You're the Pulse that I've Always Needed
by awriterofthings
Summary: Beca gets assigned a project with the most popular girl in school, Chloe Beale, and is dreading it until she learns that there is more to the redhead than she had originally thought. Oh, and not to mention her parents are deadbeats so she's being raised by her foul-mouthed half-sister, Alex, who keeps pushing her to be successful in life. (PP/OITNB)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a Pitch Perfect/Orange Is the New Black semi-crossover. I just really love the idea of Alex Vause as Beca's sister.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Beca was fast asleep in her room when her older sister, Alex entered to see if the younger girl was up for school. Rolling her eyes, Alex moved over to the bed and pulled the blanket from Beca's body. "Becs get up."

Beca groaned and rolled around so that her back was facing Alex. "I'm not going."

"You're going. Now get your scrawny ass up. I made you breakfast." Alex pulled the pillow out from under Beca's head and then hit her with it.

Beca rolled onto her back and glared at her sister. "I'm dropping out."

"You're not fucking dropping out." Alex adjusted her glasses. "When the hell did you decide this?"

"Over the weekend," Beca replied. "It's pointless. You dropped out."

"Yeah, but I got my GED," Alex stated. "And I'm not someone you should be using as an example. Now get up."

Beca sighed and got up from her bed. "Alright, I'm up. I'll be down in twenty."

Alex left the room feeling triumphant and went downstairs to wait for Beca. Beca laid back down but before she could close her eyes, she heard her sister yell, "I will make you take the fucking bus, Beca!"

"I'm up!" Beca reluctantly got out of bed and went to go take her shower.

Half an hour passed and Beca finally made her way into the kitchen where she spotted a bowl of cereal sitting on the counter. She made a face at her sister as she stirred the soggy frosted flakes. "You made me breakfast?" She asked, sarcastically.

Alex shrugged. "It was a lot of effort to open the milk and then pour it. And that wasn't twenty minutes."

"Sorry, I spent ten extra minutes trying to convince myself that today wouldn't suck." Beca checked the time and groaned. "Do I really have to go?"

Alex stood up from around the kitchen counter. "Grab your shit and let's go."

Beca rolled her eyes and retrieved her backpack from the front door before leaving with Alex. "What are you doing today?"

"Hanging out with Piper. Working. The usual," Alex replied as she got into her car.

Alex turned on the radio and made a face as she listened to a mix that was being played. "You make mixes better than this crap they're playing." She changed the station and pulled out of the driveway. "So, second week of your senior year. How's it going?"

Beca shrugged. "It's no different than any of the other years. I'm just glad I have Amy and Jesse to keep me sane."

"So, we haven't talked about college in a while," Alex began, knowing her sister hated this topic.

"Not going," Beca replied, agitated just by the mention of it. "It's not like we can afford it anyway. I doubt I qualify for any sort of scholarship."

"That's a load of shit. I'm sure you do if you'd look into it," Alex said. "And you are going."

Beca looked at the brunette in disbelief. "You can't make me go."

"I want you to have a good life, Beca," Alex said.

"College doesn't equate to a good life. Besides, I want to make music. I don't need a degree for that."

Alex sighed. "Fine, whatever. We'll talk about it later."

Once they arrived outside of Beca's school, Beca looked over at her sister. "Thanks. I'll see you at home."

"Yeah, learn something. And no more ditching. I don't want another phone call from your annoying principal."

Beca rolled her eyes and exited the car.

"I fucking mean it, Beca," Alex warned.

"I heard you," Beca assured her as she put her bag over her shoulder. "No ditching," she repeated before walking towards the school building.

Beca entered the building and sighed at the annoying sounds of kids laughing and goofing around in the halls. As she made it over to her locker, she spotted Chloe Beale at her own locker with her friends. They didn't make her life a living hell or anything, but being around them made Beca feel just… inadequate. They were rich, in all sorts of school clubs and were probably going to Ivy League schools once they graduated. Chloe spoke to her on occasion but that didn't even make it to acquaintance level in Beca's books.

Beca finally reached her locker, which was currently being leaned on by Aubrey Posen. Aubrey turned her head to look at Beca and frowned at the sight of her. "Think you have enough metal in your ears there, Beca?"

"Think you have enough tissue in your bra there, Posen?" Beca quipped.

Aubrey scoffed and moved off of the brunette's locker. "I don't stuff my bra," she informed her before looking at Chloe. "I'm going to my locker. Meet me there." Aubrey walked off with their other friends, leaving Chloe alone.

Chloe closed her locker and looked over at Beca. "Would it hurt you to be nice?"

Beca looked at the redhead in disbelief. "Would it hurt _me _to be nice? Your best friend is the queen of Bitch-dom."

"I'll talk to her," Chloe assured her. "How was your weekend?"

Beca shrugged and went about turning her combination lock to open her locker. Chloe sighed at the response. She could never really get Beca to talk much. "I'll see you in class," she said before walking away.

Beca opened her locker and turned her head to watch Chloe walk off to catch up with Aubrey and her other friends.

"Stop picturing Chloe Beale naked," someone whispered behind her.

Beca turned her head and rolled her eyes at her best friend, Amy. "I wasn't doing that."

"You were just longingly watching her walk away?" Amy asked.

"I wasn't doing that either." Beca pulled the textbook she needed out of her locker and then closed it. "What are you doing at eight?"

Amy laughed. "I'll be in class just like you should be."

Beca sighed. "Can't we just ditch? I'll buy you whatever you want from the convenient store."

"Hey, ladies." There other friend, Jesse, approached them.

"Beca's trying to ditch class already," Amy told him.

Jesse grinned. "That's a record. We're going to class, Beca. Your sister already texted me."

Beca quirked a brow. "Why is my sister texting you? She can't even stand you."

Jesse pouted. "Why can't she stand me? I'm cute."

"She texted me as well," Amy admitted. "She wants us to make sure you behave."

Jesse placed a hand on Beca's shoulder and immediately removed it at the glare he received. "English class. Let's roll."

The warning bell rang and Amy sighed. "I'll see you two later. Beca wear a bib so you don't ruin your clothes from drooling after you-know-who."

Jesse laughed. "Still crushing on Miss Popular? That's really sweet. It's almost movie-worthy."

Beca glared at the boy. "Shut up. Let's just get to this stupid class. I don't even know why I let Alex talk me into taking a stupid honor class."

"Because she knows your smart and can pass the class." Jesse walked with Beca down the hall until they reached their English class. "And look, there's your future wife," she joked as he spotted Chloe sitting in the middle of the class. Jesse grinned seeing that there were only two seats let. One next to Chloe and one in the back of the class. "You'll thank me later," Jesse said before entering the classroom and moving to sit at the back.

Beca reluctantly entered the classroom and gave Jesse a look that told him he would be in for it later. She sat down at the empty desk beside Chloe and hoped this class wouldn't drag on forever.

The English teacher, Mrs. Gail Abernathy, closed the front door and faced the class. "I have a few new rules to help this class go by more smoothly and hopefully make me not want to drink myself into a coma when I get home."

The class groaned at hearing 'rules' leave their teacher's mouth.

"I know, life is so hard," Gail said, sarcastically. "Alright, so the seats you are in now will become your permanent seats for the rest of the school year."

Collective whines echoed throughout the classroom and Beca glanced over at Chloe who didn't seem to mind this new rule.

"Every other column turn your head to the right," Gail ordered. "The person you are looking at is your partner for the big project that you have to turn in by the end of the school year, which I will be talking about today."

Beca was definitely going to hurt Jesse after class. She couldn't be Chloe's partner for anything. It would be a disaster. The brunette tuned out the rest of Mrs. Abernathy's rules as she thought about how this would all play out. Chloe was probably upset about this too. She was sure of it. The popular girl and the school loner? This was not going to end well.

"Everyone take ten minutes to get to know your partner," Gail instructed.

The sounds of desks being turned brought Beca back to reality. "What are we doing?"

Chloe let out a light laugh. "I hope you plan on paying more attention than this when we're working on our project. "We're supposed to be getting to know each other for ten minutes."

"Oh, well that's easy," Beca said. "You're one of the most popular girls in school, you have crappy friends, you live in a mansion, you're dating the most popular boy, who is also the star quarterback. No surprise there. You started some organization last year, probably because it would look good on your application for college. Am I leaving anything out?"

Chloe tilted her head to the side, remaining silent for a few seconds before speaking. "You're a loner, you don't care about anything, your parents are drunks, you're a drug-dealer and you almost had to repeat your freshman year because you kept skipping school."

"A drug-dealer?" Beca asked, amused. "That's new."

"Yeah, Aubrey seems to think you're a secret drug lord or something," Chloe replied with a hint of a smile. "Now I know most of that's probably not true but that's what I hear around the school. I choose not to listen to gossip or make my own assumptions, though. I don't know your life and you don't know mine. I'd like for you to not assume that you do."

Beca nodded. "Fair enough."

Chloe tore a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled something on it before handing it to Beca. "I can't get to know you in ten minutes so we'll hangout after school."

Beca looked at the phone number that Chloe had written on the paper. "This is your number?"

Chloe smiled. "No, I want you to order a pizza. Yes, it's my number, Beca. Now give me yours."

Beca quirked a brow. "You're very demanding." She scribbled her number on a piece of paper and tore it off as well. "And what if I'm busy after school?"

"It doesn't have to be right after school," Chloe replied as she took Beca's number. "I have dance practice anyway. Tonight, around six. I'll pick you up. What's your address?"

"I can meet you wherever," Beca replied, not wanting Chloe to see where she lived.

"Or I can just pick you up." Chloe saw something in Beca's eyes. She couldn't quite tell what it was but she knew the brunette was uncomfortable. "Fine, just meet me in the school parking lot tonight."

"What are we going to be doing?" Beca asked.

"I know a cool place where we can talk," Chloe explained.

"We don't really have to get to know each other, you know."

"We're going to be working on nine-month long project together," Chloe stated. "We're going to have to get to know each other."

"Okay, fine. School parking lot tonight at six." Beca could already tell her senior year was going to be a very interesting and frustrating one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Beca was hanging around outside waiting for her sister but Alex was running very late and she had already told Jesse and Amy that she didn't need a ride so they had already gone home. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to call Alex for the umpteenth time but then she heard Chloe's voice behind her. "Hey, what are you doing?"

_Awesome. _"Nothing," Beca answered, hoping the redhead would keep going.

"Looks like you're waiting to me," she heard Aubrey say.

"Very astute of you, Posen," Beca replied. "I see now why you always make honor roll."

Stacie, one of Chloe's other friends, looked down at the brunette. "School let out two hours ago."

"Yeah, I just like being here so much. I thought I'd stick around," Beca said, sarcastically.

Chloe looked to her friends in amusement. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

Aubrey frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to Beca." Chloe gestured towards the obviously upset brunette.

"Why?"

Stacie pulled Aubrey away from Chloe and the rest of the girls followed. "We'll see you later, Chloe."

Chloe waved bye to her friends before sitting down beside Beca. "Mom or dad?"

"Neither," Beca replied. "You don't have to sit here with me. Just because we have to do some stupid project together doesn't mean we're buddies or anything."

Chloe grinned, "I see why you have so many friends. You're such a joy. I wasn't going to sit here with you. I was going to offer you a ride."

"I don't need one. I could walk home if I really wanted to. Actually, that's what I'll do. I'll walk home."

"But it's really hot out," Chloe stated. "Let me just take you home."

Beca spotted a car pulling up and was relieved that she wouldn't have to accept a ride from Chloe. Not that she would've. "There's my ride now."

"Sister?" Chloe asked as she saw a blonde woman wave to Beca.

"My sister's girlfriend," Beca answered as she stood up. "So I'll see you tonight?"

Chloe nodded and stood up. "Show up with a better attitude, though. Your current one leaves a lot to be desired."

Beca frowned. "My attitude is awesome."

"If you say so, Beca," Chloe replied with a small smile before walking off to the parking lot to get to her car.

Beca got into Piper's car and sighed. "Hey, Piper."

"Hey, Beca," Piper greeted her. "Sorry about this. Alex got caught up and called me a few minutes ago to get you."

"Is she okay?" Beca felt worried for a moment until Piper eased her mind.

"She's fine. Your social worker called. She's going to be stopping by to check on you guys. Alex has been cleaning up."

Beca laughed lightly. "You mean finding places to hide her weed."

Piper laughed. "Yeah, that too." She drove away from the school and glanced over at Beca. "So who was that redhead?"

"Just some girl," Beca replied, nonchalantly.

Piper grinned. "Just some girl? She's really pretty. Do you like her?"

"I don't know her all that well. We got assigned a project together so I have to spend the next nine months working with her."

"What's her name?" Piper asked, curiously.

"Chloe."

Piper furrowed her brows as she thought about the name. It sounded familiar. "Isn't that the name of the girl that Jesse and Amy tease you about? You like her, right?"

Beca groaned. "It's not a crush. I just think she's pretty. Even if I did like her like that, she's way out of my league."

"You can't think like that." Piper said as she pulled up in front of Beca's house.

"Trust me, I have to think like that," Beca said. "Making a move on Chloe Beale would be asking for trouble for the rest of the school year. All her friends would make fun of me."

Piper got out of the car with Beca and they made their way towards the front door. "I think you're overthinking things."

"I'm being realistic," Beca opened the front door and stepped inside. "Alex the sister you forgot about is home!"

Alex walked out of the living room wearing yellow gloves and holding a trashcan. "This fucking house is a mess. We need to be cleaner people. And I'm sorry I forgot about you. This stupid social worker visit threw me off today."

"It's fine," Beca replied. "I survived."

Piper grinned. "She was talking to a really pretty girl named Chloe."

Alex smirked at her sister. "That Beale chick? You still have a thing for her?"

"No," Beca scoffed. "We're just partners for a stupid English project."

"She thinks Chloe's out of her league," Piper informed her.

"Fuck that," Alex said as she pulled off the gloves that she was wearing and tossed them in the trashcan. "If I thought like that, then I would've never asked Piper out. And now look, two years later and I can't get rid of her."

"Fuck you, Alex. You love me." Piper went over to her girlfriend and kissed her.

Beca rolled her eyes and went into the living room so she didn't have to watch the two make-out. "Holy shit, you actually did a great job cleaning this place up." Beca reached down and picked up a photo that hadn't been there before. "You even put up pictures."

"Yeah, it makes us look like a warm and fuzzy family." Alex took the picture and smiled at it. "Do you remember this day?" The two were sitting together at the beach.

"Of course I do," Beca replied. "I was thirteen, mom had brought some weirdo home and he was creeping me out so you came and took me to the beach for a few hours. Then you decided I was moving in with you and mom flipped a shit."

"I still can't believe she thought she could actually win a custody battle." Alex looked at Piper. "She showed up to court high."

Beca laughed. "I've never been happier to see her high off her ass. She didn't stand a chance." She took the photo back from Alex and set it down on the table.

"Your mother sounds like a gem," Piper said, sarcastically. By the time she had met Alex the brunette had already had custody of Beca for two years and their mother wasn't in their lives at all anymore.

There was a knock on the door and Alex rolled her eyes. "And the social worker is here. Okay, pretend you're happy but don't overdo it."

"Happy? I don't know this feeling you speak of," Beca said as she plopped down on the couch.

"Pipes are you staying?" Alex asked.

"The social worker needs to see a stable person in your lives," Piper replied before joining Beca on the couch.

"I'm stable," Alex said, feigning offense as she made her way to the front door. She opened it and plastered on a fake smile.

"Miss Vause," the Social worker greeted her. "How is everything?"

Alex stepped aside to let the woman in. "My sister's still alive if that's what you're asking."

The social worker walked inside. She was used to Alex's sarcasm. "Is she home?"

"In the living room," Alex answered.

They went into the living room and spotted Beca on the couch working on homework while Piper helped her.

"I hate math," Beca grumbled.

"You haven't tried yet," Piper said. "Just do it and I'll help you correct it if you get anything wrong."

"Hi, Beca," the social worker greeted.

"Hey, Janice," Beca greeted her. "I'm not addicted to drugs, I've been going to class and I still have at least two friends."

"That's good to know but I still have to talk to you," Janice replied before looking at Piper. "Hi, are you her tutor?"

"I'm Alex's girlfriend," Piper corrected. "Smith graduate, I'm a Gemini, I love Jane Austen, I'm the co-owner of a business called Poppy. You might've heard of it."

"I haven't," Janice said.

"Oh, you must not get out much," Piper replied.

Alex rolled her eyes. "You're not auditioning for a dating show, Piper."

"What?" Piper asked. "I just thought she should know some important things about me since I'm in Beca's life."

"How is being a Gemini in any way important?" Alex laughed as she sat down next to Beca.

"Some people are big on astrology," Piper stated.

Janice sat down on the couch across from the three. "So, I'm just going to get down to business, okay? Alex are you still attending your meetings?"

"My 'I won't do heroine anymore' meetings? Yeah, I go once a week. It's the highlight of my life," Alex replied, acerbically.

"Beca how have you been doing in school?"

"Um, it just started so I can't really say much there," Beca replied.

"You're taking that honors class," Piper reminded her. "She's really good in English," she said to the social worker. "And you have that new friend, Chloe."

Janice smiled. "That's great to hear Beca. Are you going to join any clubs this year?"

"Nope, I'm going to focus on my music," Beca replied.

"You still mix and make music?" Janice asked.

"She's amazing at it," Piper gushed. "My favorite song to have playing in my car is one of her mixes."

Beca smiled at the compliment. "I really have homework to do so I should get started."

"Of course." Janice stood up. "I'm all done here."

Alex stood up and left the living room with Janice. "I'm taking care of her."

"I know you are," Janice assured her. "She's finally got stability in her life. You're good for her and she's good for you. I don't plan on messing with that. I'm just doing my job. That girlfriend of yours seems really sweet. I can tell she cares about your sister."

Alex frowned. "I'm sweet."

Janice laughed. "That's definitely not a word I would use to describe you." Janice exited the house with Alex. "So how is everything really? Bills and work?"

Alex shrugged. "I have a stable job and I get the bills paid. I'm handling everything."

Janice nodded. "Okay, just call me if you need anything. You're doing a great job, Miss Vause."

"Thanks." Alex smiled sincerely before heading back into her house. She closed the door and went back into the living room. "All that cleaning and she didn't even look around the fucking house."

Beca laughed. "Hey, at least we have a clean house now."

"And it better stay this way," Alex said. "What do you want for dinner?"

Beca shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Oh!" Piper exclaimed happily. "We can have sushi and then Baklava for dessert."

Alex laughed. "You just like baklava because saying it makes you feel fancy."

"That is not true," Piper scoffed. "I love baklava."

Beca made a face. "I don't like sushi."

"Okay, that's fine. We can have feta cheese turkey burgers." Piper looked from Beca and Alex, who were both giving her strange looks. The blonde sighed and stood up. "Pizza or burgers?"

"Burgers," Alex and Beca replied simultaneously.

"Normal burgers," Beca added.

"You two suck," Piper grumbled.

"Oh, but you like when I suck," Alex grinned perversely.

Beca rolled her eyes. "Young impressionable sister in the room."

Alex stood up and kissed Piper before trying to hand her forty dollars for dinner.

"I've got it," Piper replied. "I'll be back soon. Beca do your homework."

"I will," Beca sighed as she looked back at her textbook.

Alex sat down next to her, resting her head on the back of the couch.

"I'm going out tonight at six," Beca glanced at her sister. "Is that cool?"

Alex raised her head to look at the shorter girl. "Where are you going?"

Beca shrugged. "Out with Chloe. She won't tell me where, though."

"I have to meet her," Alex replied.

Beca rolled her eyes and tapped her pencil on her textbook in agitation. "Why?"

"Uh, because those have always been the rules. Don't act surprised."

"I'll leave you her number," Beca replied. "You don't need to meet her. She just wants to get to know me before we start working together."

"If I can't meet her, then you can't fucking go hangout with her, Becs. Those are the rules."

Beca tapped her pencil harder on her textbook. "Fine, I won't go."

Alex rolled her eyes at Beca's stubbornness. "Are you embarrassed of me or something?"

"Of course not," Beca sighed. "I just…she's not a bad person or anything. I'll leave you her number."

"Fine, you have to be home by ten."

"I know." Beca bit her bottom lip and looked over at her sister. "Can I borrow the car?"

Alex chuckled. "Yes, Beca, you can borrow my car."

"Thanks." Beca went back to doing her homework.

"You're a pain in my ass, you know that?" Alex asked as she rested her head back on the couch.

Beca grinned. "Yeah, I know. You're a pain in my ass too."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Chloe entered her house with Aubrey and Stacie. "Mom, I'm home!" she yelled. "Aubrey and Stacie are here!"

"Hi, sweetheart," an older redheaded woman exited the living room holding a thick stack of papers. "How was school?"

"It was great," Chloe smiled.

"What'd you eat?" Mrs. Beale asked.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Do you always have to ask that?"

"Do you have an answer or are you thinking up one?" Mrs. Beale asked, ignoring Chloe's question.

"She ate," Stacie assured the older woman.

"How was work, Mrs. Beale?" Aubrey threw in to help take the attention off Chloe.

Mrs. Beale gestured to the stack of papers. "Still not over." Evelyn Beale was a lawyer and worked pretty much all the time. "You girls have fun. I'll bring up something for you to snack on shortly."

"Thanks, Mom," Chloe said as the woman disappeared back into the living room. She headed up the spiral staircase with Aubrey and Stacie and made her way to her bedroom. "Thanks, guys. I hate that she still asks me that almost every day."

"She just worries about you," Aubrey said.

"She just expresses it in an annoying way," Stacie added.

After kicking off their shoes and pulling their textbooks out, Chloe sat down at the head of her bed and Stacie laid down on her stomach at the end of it while Aubrey took her normal spot at Chloe's desk.

"So," Stacie began as she wrote down a math problem in her notebook. "Either of you doing anything tonight?"

"Studying," Aubrey replied.

Chloe gave the blonde a strange look. "Studying for what? We just started school."

"It never hurts to be prepared, Chlo," Aubrey said as she flipped a page in her textbook. "Are you doing anything tonight, Stace?"

Stacie sighed. "No, polishing my nails is as exciting as it gets on this end. What about you Chloe?"

Chloe bit the inside of her cheek and responded after a few seconds. "I'm hanging out with Beca."

Aubrey froze in the middle of what she was working on before turning around. "Mitchell? Beca Mitchell?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, her."

"She's a bitch, Chloe," Aubrey said in disbelief. "She's rude, immature and those ear monstrosities are really uncalled for. And she has tattoos. What parent lets their child get so many tattoos?"

Chloe shrugged. "She can be bitchy and she's rude at times but I think that's just a cover up. I want to get to know her. We have to work on an English project together anyways so it'll be good to at least get along with her."

"She's mysterious," Stacie stated. "It's actually kind of hot."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You're both ridiculous."

"Look, she is a little rough around the edges but I don't know," Chloe shrugged, "there's something about her."

"Whatever," Aubrey sighed. "Just don't expect me to like it. She's a sarcastic ass. I'm not dealing with her."

"So what are you doing about Tom?" Stacie asked, paying little attention to her homework.

Chloe let out an exasperated breath. "Tom's an idiot. I keep telling him I'm not interested but he just asks why I'm "friend-zoning" him. I've never shown interest in him, I've never led him on and I've been careful not to say anything around him that might make him think that I'm even slightly interested."

"Why don't you just tell him you're gay?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey shook her head. "I can see it now. He'll just think that it's hot. Besides, Chloe still has a foot in the closet."

Chloe rolled her eyes at that. "I do not. I'm out. My parents know, all my close friends know. It's just unnecessary for me to blurt it out around school." Chloe's phone buzzed and she picked it up from beside her to read the message she had received.

Beca[4:00pm]: My sister would like to know if you're planning on killing me tonight since you won't tell me where you're taking me.

Chloe smiled at the message and responded promptly.

Chloe[4:01pm]: It's not on my list of things to do. You're safe. See you soon.

When the redhead looked up from her phone, she was being stared at by Aubrey and Stacie. "What?"

Stacie smirked and nodded towards Chloe's phone. "Who was that?"

"It was Beca," Chloe replied.

Aubrey rolled her eyes before continuing with her homework. She really didn't get Chloe's sudden need to befriend someone like Beca Mitchell.

* * *

Chloe was sitting on top of her car in the school parking lot when she saw Beca pull up in the empty space beside her. She smiled, relieved that the brunette had actually shown up. She had been expecting the girl to ditch her. She hopped down from the trunk of her car and waited for Beca to get out of the vehicle before smiling brightly at her. "You made it."

"I said I would," Beca replied, shoving her hands into her back pockets. "So, what now?"

"Get in." Chloe got into her car and started the engine.

Beca sighed and got into the car. "Where are we going?" She glanced over at Chloe who was looking at her iPod for a playlist she wanted to listen to.

"You'll find out." Chloe started a song and looked over at Beca. "Seatbelt," she said before pulling out of the school parking lot.

Beca put her seatbelt on and was quickly drawn to the music coming out of the stereo. "This is Nyssa "Sweet Beatz" Santiago."

"I'm aware," Chloe replied. "Her mixes are amazing. I've met her once. She went to one of my chairty events, you know, the ones I have just because it'll look good on a college application," she added with a grin as she looked at Beca.

Beca ignored the comment as her fingers twitched, trying to resist picking up Chloe's iPod. Her own iPod was sacred and if anyone touched it, she'd more than likely give them an earful.

"Her new album came out the other day," Chloe continued. "Lady Jamz. Personally my lady jam will always be Titanium... the original version. What's yours?"

Beca's eyes widened at Chloe's forwardness. "I don't have a - you can't just ask people that." Beca was flustered by the question and hoped that Chloe didn't notice her blushing.

Chloe shrugged. "It's not a big deal. So have you gotten her CD yet?"

Beca shook her head. "Nope, not yet." The truth was she couldn't bring herself to spend $10.99 on the album when her sister struggled to pay bills. Any money that she made doing odd jobs, she put in Alex's "bills" jar.

"You'll love it," Chloe assured her. "It's pretty epic."

"I'm sure I will," Beca answered. "She makes the kind of mixes that I want to make. They're just so good."

"You make mixes?" Chloe asked, intrigued by this new knowledge of Beca.

"I dabble," Beca answered, simply. "I'm definitely not on Nyssa's level."

Chloe pulled up in front of the beach that wasn't too far from Barden High. Many students skipped school to go hangout there.

"The beach?" Beca asked, confused.

"Yep, if you come at the right time and stay down here near the rocks, it's nice and quiet. People rarely come down to this end. I come out here all the time." Chloe took off the flats that she had on and proceeded to walk towards the water and climb onto the rocks. She sat down and gestured for Beca to join her.

Beca removed her converse and rolled up her jeans so the bottoms wouldn't get wet. She joined Chloe on the huge cluster of rocks and admired how beautiful the ocean looked at how peaceful everything seemed.

"Nice, right?" Chloe asked, glancing over at Beca.

Beca nodded as she continued to look out at the waters. "I could've used a place like this a few years ago."

"Why's that?"

Not wanting to talk about anything that personal, Beca redirected the conversation. "So is no one wondering why you're out with me right now? Did you make up some elaborate lie about going to see your boyfriend or something?"

Chloe sighed at Beca's obvious attempt at not talking about herself. "My friends know who I'm with," she answered simply. "So how long have you been making mixes?"

Beca smiled. A subject she could talk about. "Since I was thirteen. My sister bought me this cool software program when I started showing interest in mashing-up songs." Beca still remembered how excited she had been. The only reason she had a laptop to begin with was because her mother wanted to keep her preoccupied and out of her way.

"What's your sister's name?" Chloe asked, curiously. "Tell me a little about her."

That was easy enough. "Her name's Alex. She's seven years older than me. Um, she works as a bartender and does odd jobs every now and then. Do you have any siblings?"

"Just me. My parents are too busy for more than one child. They're both lawyers. Aubrey and Stacie are the closest that I have to siblings."

"Lawyers, huh?" Beca asked. "Is that what you plan on being?"

"No way," Chloe replied. "Too intense for me. I want to be a doctor."

Beca laughed. "And cutting people open is less intense than being a lawyer, how?"

Chloe laughed as well. "Okay, maybe I should've just said it's a different kind of intense. What do your parents do?" Chloe noticed Beca stiffen at this question and knew the brunette was about to shut off from her again. "Or what do you want to do? I'm guessing you want to do something music-related."

Chloe saw Beca visibly relax. "Producing music would be cool."

Chloe quirked a brow. "Wanting to produce music is major for someone who just dabbles in it."

Beca shrugged as she picked at an invisible spot on her jeans. "Okay, so maybe I do more than just dabble."

"You know what I think would song great together? Radioactive and Pompeii."

Beca took a moment to think about what a mash-up of those two songs would sound like. "That might actually be a pretty good mix. I'm currently working on a kind of pop anthology of popular songs from 2013."

Chloe could tell how giddy Beca was coming talking about her passion for music and she found it adorable. She remained silent, afraid to speak and have Beca retreat back into silence.

"My sister's pissed I won't let her hear it yet," Beca continued. "I don't let people hear my mixes until they're perfect. I have about thirty songs now and I'm hoping to include at least thirty more."

Chloe's eyes widened. "That's insane! I bet it'll be epic."

"I hope so," Beca replied, smiling because of how enthused Chloe seemed to be from hearing about her musical project.

The two continued to talk, getting to know each other and just enjoying the calm that the ocean brought to them. Beca reached into her pocket to get her phone but then realized she had left it in the car. It had gotten dark and cold out but the brunette wasn't sure what time it was. "What time is?"

Chloe pulled her phone out and was surprised to see how many hours had passed. "Ten-thirty."

"Shit!" Beca exclaimed. She could already hear her sister bitching at her. "I have to get home."

"When's your curfew?" Chloe asked as she stood up with Beca.

"Ten." Beca could tell from Chloe's nonchalant attitude that the redhead either didn't have a curfew or it was much later than her own.

Chloe carefully walked off of the rocks with Beca. "Oh, you're definitely going to be late." They slipped their shoes back on and hurried back to the car.

* * *

Chloe pulled up beside Beca's car and looked over at the redhead. "This was fun. We should hangout again sometime."

Beca was thrown off by Chloe's words. "Um, okay. Sure." She would be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed herself. "I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow." Beca got out of the car and rushed over to her sister's car. She knew she was in major shit but she couldn't help but feel elated from spending time with Chloe.

* * *

Beca entered her house and was immediately met with a pissed off looking Alex who was pacing by the front door with her cell phone in her hand. Beca had received several missed text messages and phone calls from her sister but decided not to respond to them. She figured there was no point in getting yelled at over the phone _and _at home.

Alex stopped pacing and looked at her sister. "You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry." Beca removed her jacket and hung it up near the front door. "We were talking and lost track of time. I forgot my phone in the car so I didn't even know you had called or texted me."

"I should fucking ground you." Alex folded her arms across her chest.

Beca sighed. "I'm sorry, Alex. I really did just lose track of time. I was actually enjoying myself. I didn't think I would but Chloe's really down to earth and nice to talk to. She loves music almost as much as me, I think. She knows who Nyssa Santiago is. No one I ever talk to knows who that is."

Alex smirked as Beca's little rant. "You don't talk to many people so that's understandable." She dropped her hands down from her chest. "You really like this girl, huh?"

Beca frowned. "What? No. I just said she was cool to talk to."

"But you've been crushing on her for a while."

"It's not a crush," Beca corrected. "I just think she's hot. So what's my punishment?"

Alex ran a hand through her hair. "I guess since you're a first time offender, I can let this slide… but don't let it happen again. I don't like worrying. It stresses me the fuck out. I'm going to bed." Alex turned around to go to her room. "You're a pain in my ass, by the way."

Beca chuckled. "Yeah, you're one in mine too," she said before disappearing into her room as well, thoughts of Chloe not far from her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Alex entered Beca's room and found the brunette asleep with her laptop resting on her lap. She shook her head and picked it up to place it on the nightstand. "Becs get up."

Beca groaned and rolled over onto her side. "Five more minutes."

"When'd you go to bed?" Alex asked, poking her sister in the cheek.

Beca swatted Alex's hand away. "Four."

"Three hours ago?" Alex rolled her eyes. "Why the hell did you stay up?"

"I was working on something," Beca answered, tiredly. Her voice was husky from her lack of sleep. "Just give me ten minutes."

"It was five minutes before," Alex said, but Beca pulled her pillow over her head to block her out. Rolling her eyes, Alex pulled the pillow away from Beca. "Get the hell up, Becs. You have school."

Beca grunted a response but didn't show any signs of moving.

"You have twenty minutes to get downstairs."

Alex left the room and Beca sighed before reluctantly getting up. She looked over at her laptop and smiled at the message on her screen letting her know that her mix had been burned. She opened the cd drive and removed the disc carefully. She got up and grabbed a black sharpie from her desk, scribbling 'Chloe' onto the front of the disc before placing it in one of her many cd cases. She placed the case in her bag before tiredly getting ready for school.

Once Beca finally made it downstairs to the kitchen, she found Alex at the stove making breakfast. "You're actually cooking?"

"Yeah, we're out of milk and I'm not allowed to let you starve to death." Alex glanced over her shoulder at Beca. "So what were you working on that required you to stay up so fucking late?"

Beca ran a hand through her damp hair. "Just one of my mixes. I wanted to finish it while I was feeling inspired."

Alex dished the eggs from the pan onto a plate where a slice of bacon sat. She handed the plate to Beca and looked at her with a smirk. "And what inspired you? A certain redhead?"

Beca shrugged and accepted the fork Alex handed to her. "Thanks."

"Wow, you really want to bang this chick don't you?" Alex said as she sat down to eat her own food. "Now I have to meet her."

Beca finished chewing her food before speaking. "I don't want to bang her. We're just… two people who go to school together."

"Do two people who just go to school together hangout for hours just talking?" Alex asked.

"We only hung out because of the project we have," Beca explained.

"You're full of shit," Alex said, amused. "Just admit that you have a crush on this girl."

Beca shook her head. "I don't." She continued eating, hoping that her sister would drop the subject.

A knock sounded at the door and Alex frowned. "Expecting anyone?" She asked as she stood up.

"Nope," Beca replied.

Alex left the kitchen and looked through the window near the front door. She saw Amy and opened the door for her.

"Hey, tall, dark and threatening," Amy greeted as she entered the house. "You guys need to get the doorbell fixed. I waited for like five minutes before I realized the damn thing wasn't working."

"I'll get right on that," Alex said, sarcastically as she closed the front door. "What brings you here, Amy?"

Amy beamed as she answered the question. "My mom's not working today and let me take the car. I figured I'd pick up Beca on my way to school."

Alex looked at the girl suspiciously. "Are you actually going to school?"

"Of course," Amy assured her. "I love school. It's the highlight of my day. Annoying jocks, rich bitches and teachers who show favoritism towards them. Just thinking about it is making me so happy. You have no idea."

Alex grinned. "Okay, smart ass. You can take her."

"Who was at the door?" Beca called as she walked towards the front door. She was surprised to see Amy at her house. "Hey, what's up?"

Amy jingled her car keys. "I'm your ride to school today."

Beca looked to Alex who opened the front door for the girls to leave. "Learn something."

"See you later," Beca said before exiting the house with Amy.

"How was your thing with the ginger?"Amy asked as they got into the car.

"I actually had a really nice time," Beca replied. "I wasn't expecting her to be so… down to earth."

Amy wiggled her eyebrows. "Did you make a move?"

"So she could file a restraining order against me?" Beca asked. "I'm not stupid. Besides, even if she wasn't taken, she's not gay. And even if she was gay, I'm not her type."

"Hey, straight girls like to experiment," Amy said as she pulled out of the driveway. "You might be able to entice her. Unless you don't want to waste your virginity on a fling."

Beca reached over to turn on the radio. "We're not talking about this anymore." A mix by Nyssa "Sweet Beatz" Santiago was playing and Beca smiled. "Hey, Chloe knows who this is. Owns her CDs and everything."

Amy laughed. "Really? I took her as more of a Mozart and Bach type of girl. Maybe some Katy Perry if she's feeling bad."

Beca rolled her eyes. "She's really cool, Amy. Don't diss her."

Amy glanced at Beca before looking back at the road. "So you two are suddenly friends now?"

Beca shook. "No, but she's not who I thought she was."

Amy smiled to herself but didn't say anything to Beca. It was obvious that her best friend's superficial crush was blossoming into something more.

* * *

Beca made her way over to her locker and was relieved when she saw that Chloe was alone today and not surrounded by her usual crowd. She took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way over to Chloe. "Hey," she greeted, coolly as she opened her locker.

Chloe closed her locker and smiled at Beca. "Hi, hope you didn't get into too much trouble last night."

Beca shook her head. "It was fine. How was the rest of your night?"

"It was good. I pretty much went to bed after I got home." Chloe pulled a CD from her purse and held it out to Beca.

Beca took the cd and her eyes widened. "Nyssa's new album." She turned the case around to read the discography.

"I had an extra copy," Chloe explained. "You can keep that one."

Beca looked up at Chloe, shocked by the offer. "You don't have to give it to me."

Chloe grinned. "I know that. I want to. I knew you'd appreciate it more than anyone else I know."

"Thank you," Beca replied, trying to keep her excitement under control. "This is really awesome of you. Actually, I have something for you too." Beca reached into her bag and pulled out the cd she had made for Chloe. "It's a mix of Pompeii and Radioactive."

Chloe's eyes lit up, making Beca smile. "You mixed this for me?"

Beca nodded. "Thought you might want to hear it."

Before Chloe could speak, Tom approached her, yanking the cd from her hands. "What's this?" He saw her name scribbled on the cd and looked at Beca. "Making mixed CDs, Mitchell? What's on here? Love songs?"

Chloe snatched the case back from Tom. "Shut up, Tom. You're an idiot."

"I'm just messing around." Tom leaned against the locker, placing himself right between Beca and Chloe as if the brunette wasn't even there "What are you doing after school?"

Beca's earlier happiness dissipated as she took this as her cue to leave. She closed her locker and made her way down the hall, leaving Chloe to talk to Tom.

"Nothing with you," Chloe answered, pissed that he had interrupted her conversation. "I was talking to Beca. What you just did was rude."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Why were you even talking to her?"

Aubrey and Stacie approached their friend and could see the redhead was irritated.

Stacie linked her arm with Chloe's. "We need to talk to her," she informed Tom before walking away.

"Thank you," Chloe replied. "I was seriously contemplating violence. I'll catch up with you two later. I need to go find Beca."

"Whoa there, Chlo," Stacie said. "How'd your little date go yesterday?"

"It wasn't a date," Chloe corrected, "and it was fun."

Aubrey pulled the cd from Chloe's grasp. "Who's this from?"

Chloe took the cd back. "Beca. I mentioned songs I thought would sound good together and she made it into a reality."

"That's pretty sweet of her," Stacie said. "It's something I would do if I wanted to get laid."

Chloe laughed and nudged her friend. "You have a one-track mind and it was just a nice gesture. Don't turn it into something that it's not."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I still don't understand how you can stand her."

"She's actually really nice," Chloe said. "I need to go find her real quick. I didn't get a chance to thank her for the cd." Before Chloe could depart from her friends, the warning bell rang.

"Looks like it'll have to wait," Aubrey said. "You and your toner need to get to class."

"I don't have a toner," Chloe insisted as she reluctantly followed her friends to the class that they had together. Hopefully she would be able to catch up with Beca in the hallway after class.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Chloe was frustrated. She had a feeling that Beca was avoiding her. It was the end of the day and she hadn't seen Beca at her locker, in the cafeteria or anywhere else for that matter. Sighing as she slammed her locker, she made her way out of the school building to wait for her other friends. As she sat down on the steps to begin her waiting, the doors behind her opened and Beca walked past her with Jesse and Amy. Standing up quickly, Chloe called to the brunette. "Hey, Beca."

Beca turned her head to look at the redhead that she hadn't noticed sitting on the stairs. "Chloe, hey." Beca adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she looked at the other girl. "What's up?"

"Do you have a minute?" Chloe asked. "I wanted to thank you for the cd."

"It's no big deal. Hope you like it," Beca said before turning to leave.

Chloe frowned and reached out for the girl's wrist, stopping her from leaving. "Wait, do you think we could talk? We can go to the coffee shop down the street."

"Amy's my ride home," Beca answered.

"I can be your ride home," Chloe offered.

Beca did want to spend time with Chloe but fear of Chloe seeing where she lived won out. "It's okay. I really should head home."

Amy patted her stomach. "I could use some food from the coffee shop down the street. How about you Jesse?"

"I'm not really-." Amy kicked the boy in the shin. "Ow," Jesse whispered, glaring at the blonde. She gave him a look that said 'you better agree with me' and he finally caught on. "Oh yeah, Espresso Self also known as the coffee shop down the street. Yeah, I'm in."

Chloe smiled happily. "Beca you can drive there with me."

"Sounds good," Amy said before Beca could protest. "Come on, Jesse."

Jesse glanced back at Beca who looked slightly uncomfortable. "Should we be leaving her?"

Amy grinned. "She'll be thanking us later."

Chloe pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Stacie and Aubrey to let them know that she wouldn't be able to hang out with them until later. "Okay, ready?" she asked Beca as she began walking towards her car.

"Won't your boyfriend be pissed that you're hanging out with the girl making you CDs with 'love songs'?" She asked, sarcastically.

Chloe sighed. "Sorry about Tom. He's a tool. Also, he's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, whatever you two are then," Beca said, thrown off by the fact that she had been wrong about Chloe and Tom this whole time. "I don't really need a jock making school worse for me."

"He's not my anything," Chloe assured the smaller girl as she opened her car door. "He likes to think he is but I'm not interested and never will be. So, can we hangout?"

Beca shrugged. "Why'd you never correct me before now on your relationship status?"

"Because it's none of your business, really," Chloe answered. "But I figured if you're going to be weird about it, I'd let you know."

Beca watched as Chloe got into the car and smiled to herself before getting in as well. "Fair enough."

Chloe started her car and pulled the cd Beca had made for her from her purse to put into her cd player.

Beca sat up straighter in her seat. "You're going to listen to that now?"

"Yeah, why not?" Chloe replied as she turned up the volume.

Beca was beginning to feel nervous. What if Chloe didn't like it? What if her sleepless night was all for naught? She had stayed up making this mix and perfecting it just for Chloe to hate it. The music began to play and Beca bit at the inside of her cheek as she looked out the side of her eyes to gauge Chloe's reaction.

Chloe pulled out of the parking lot and drove off, remaining silent as she took in the mix. A minute passed before she finally spoke. "This is amazing, Beca! It's absolutely flawless."

Beca scratched the back of her neck. "Thanks. It's not done yet, though."

"I can already tell it'll be awesome all the way through," Chloe beamed. Once the song finished, she glanced over at Beca. "Thank you again. That totally just made my week."

Beca felt a smile pull at the corner of her lips and successfully stopped it. She, Beca Mitchell, had made Chloe's week. Not just her day, but her whole freakin' week. "It was no problem. I had time last night so I figured I'd try and make it work."

"Well you definitely got it to work." Beca pulled up in front of coffee shop and looked over at Beca. "Have you ever been here? This place is great."

"I haven't," Beca replied as she got out of the car. She followed Chloe inside and saw that Amy and Jesse had already ordered and were sitting at a table with only two seats. She knew what they were doing and threw a glare their way, which only earned her a smile and a hand wave from Amy. She returned her attention to the menu and sighed at how expensive everything was.

Once they were next in line, Beca gestured for Chloe to go. "I don't want anything."

Chloe smiled. "You have to try their stuff. You'll love it." Chloe ordered two coffees and a sandwich, asking for it to be cut down the middle. "We'll share the sandwich. I never finish them anyway." Chloe paid and headed over to the waiting area with Beca.

"Thanks," Beca said, sheepishly. She reached into her pocket and began to pull out whatever change she had on her.

Chloe realized what she was doing and shook her head. "You don't need to pay me back. It's my treat." Once they got their order, Beca went over to where Amy and Jesse were sitting.

"Sorry," Amy said with fake sincerity. "Only a two seat-er here. You'll have to sit somewhere else."

"Yeah," Jesse jumped in. "And it's a small table so you can't even bring chairs over. Real hardship."

"You two are ridiculous," Beca informed them before sitting at an empty table a few feet away from her friends. "Sorry about them," she said to Chloe. "They joke around a lot."

Chloe smiled. "It's okay. I like this better anyway." Chloe placed a napkin down in front of Beca and gestured for her to take half of the sandwich.

Beca reached over and picked up the sandwich, placing it down on the napkin Chloe had set down for her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Chloe took a bite of her sandwich before sipping her coffee. "So, what do you think?"

Beca swallowed the bite she had taken and nodded her head. "It's really good."

"Told you," Chloe said, pleased. "Hey, I was thinking about our project. We should get started on it this Friday. Does that work for you?"

"Yeah, sure," Beca nodded. "Do you want to meet up at a library or something?"

"We can go to your place or mine," Chloe replied. "Whatever you want."

"Your place works."

"Great, my place after school on Friday," Chloe confirmed.

"Don't you have any parties to go to or anything?" Beca asked, surprised that the redhead wanted to spend time with her on a Friday. "Your friends probably won't like that you're bailing on them."

"There's always Saturday," Chloe pointed out before taking another bite of her food. "And you're my friend now too so they'll have to learn to share me I guess."

Beca quirked a brow. "Oh, we're friends now?"

"Totally," Chloe replied with a nod. "Don't even try to deny it. You made me a cd."

Beca rolled her eyes. "I mixed you a song. I didn't make you a cd. You know, if we're being technical."

Chloe grinned. "You put effort into something just for me. You don't do that for random people do you?"

"Well, no," Beca answered. "But-,"

"We're friends," Chloe cut her off as she picked up her coffee. "Stop fighting it." She then stopped mid sip. "Unless you don't want to be my friend."

"We can be friends." Beca wasn't sure what territory she was wandering into to, but she had a feeling Aubrey wouldn't be welcoming her with open arms.

Chloe smiled and sipped her coffee. "It's settled then.

The two continued to talk and eat for about half an hour until Chloe's phone rang. It had been Aubrey telling her that she needed to join them for an impromptu Bella's dance meeting.

Chloe sighed after ending the call. "Sorry, I have to go. It's a Bella thing"

Beca noted the sincere sound of disappointment in Chloe's voice. "It's okay. I should be heading home anyway."

Chloe snapped a photo of the piece of sandwich she still had leftover and smiled at the questioning gaze she got from Beca. "It's for my mom," she said simply as if that would make sense to Beca. She got up from the table and Beca followed her out of the café.

"Thanks for the meal," Beca said as she walked Chloe to her car.

"Anytime." Chloe held out her arms and went to give Beca a hug but the brunette took a step back.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving you a hug."

Beca shook her head. "I don't like those. We can fist bump or something." She held out her fist, earning an eye roll from Chloe. The redhead pushed Beca's hand away and pulled her into a tight hug. "See you at school tomorrow," she pulled away and got into her car.

Beca stood frozen where she was. The hug wasn't bad at all. Chloe smelled really nice and the hug had felt… warm. _Warm? What the hell is wrong with me?_

"Hey, Beca!" She heard her name shouted from Amy's car. "When you're done trying to get your hormones under control, get in the car."

Beca rolled her eyes and headed over to the car. "Shut up. I was just shocked that she hugged me is all." She opened the passenger door and Jesse groaned as he got out.

"Why do I have to sit in the back?" He muttered miserably.

Beca got into the front seat and closed the door before looking behind her at Jesse. "She said we were friends. That's weird, right?" She looked at Amy. "Why would she want to be friends with me?"

"She obviously thinks you're cool," Jesse answered. "Just accept it. Chloe isn't the stuck-up rich chick you always thought she was."

"No, she's definitely not," Beca agreed as Amy drove her home.

* * *

Beca entered her house and found Piper lying on the couch in the living room while reading a magazine. "Hey, Piper."

Piper smiled and set down the magazine. "Hey, Beca. How was school?"

"Decent." Beca sat down on the couch across from Piper. "Chloe gave me a copy of Nyssa's new album so I'm pretty excited about that."

Piper grinned and sat up. "Is that why you're just getting home? You were with her?"

Beca nodded. "Jesse and Amy were with us too… kind of."

Alex entered the living room and ruffled Beca's hair. "Hey, you little shit. Where were you?"

Piper grinned, happily. "She was with Chloe."

Alex plopped down beside Piper. "Are you doing her? Do I have to give you the talk?"

"Alex," Beca groaned covering her face with her hands.

"Ohmygod, you totally gave it up to her didn't you?" Alex asked. "I have to meet this girl."

Beca dropped her hands from her face. "Stop being embarrassing. I didn't give anything up to her. We're just friends. And I'm seventeen. The talk isn't necessary."

"Leave her alone, Al," Piper chided. "Having a crush in high school is hard enough. You don't need to tease her about it."

"I wasn't teasing." Alex placed her arm over Piper's shoulders and pulled her closer. "Seriously, when do I get to meet this chick that's got you up all night making mixes for her?"

"It was one mix. She gets me on a musical level and I knew she would appreciate it so I made it for her. That's all."

Alex laughed. "She gets you on a musical level? Don't say shit like that to her if you want to get laid."

Piper slapped Alex on the thigh. "I think that's sweet, Beca. Ignore your sister. She's an ass. I sometimes can't believe you two are sisters. You don't have anything in common."

"That's not true," Alex assured her. "Besides the height thing, we're pretty much the same fucking person. We love tattoos, we have bad attitudes, we enjoy music. What else, Becs?"

Beca smirked. "We don't know who our fathers are."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, there's a big one. We don't know who our asshole fathers are."

Piper shook her head. "You two are ridiculous."

Beca's phone buzzed and she pulled it out to read the text message she had received. She smiled when she saw that it was from Chloe.

Chloe[4:58pm]: I enjoyed hanging out with you today. Hope it happens again before Friday.

"Is that Chloe?" Alex asked. "I've never seen you smile like an idiot at your phone before."

Beca stood up from the couch with a smile still on her face. "I'm going upstairs."

"I'm leaving to go get drooled over by men who don't stand a chance. Got to love bartending," Alex stood up. "Do your homework."

"I will," Beca said.

Piper got up as well. "See you tomorrow, Becs."

"Bye, Piper." Once the two were gone, Beca made her way upstairs to her room. She got onto her bed and her thumb hovered over the screen of her phone for a few seconds before she finally responded.

Beca[5:05pm]: It could if you play your cards right.

Beca bit her bottom lip as she waited for a response. Was that too flirty? Would Chloe be put off?

Chloe[5:06pm]: You know you love my company.

Beca laughed and spent the next hour texting back and forth with Chloe, trying to ignore how happy the buzz of her phone alerting her to a text message from said redhead made her feel.


	6. Chapter 6

Short filler chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

A few days later…

Aubrey and Stacie were standing at Chloe's locker both shocked by the news that the redhead was ditching their movie night to hang out with Beca.

"I guess I can't be too upset," Stacie replied. "I'd choose getting laid over a movie myself."

Chloe grinned and shook her head. "Except that's not what I'm doing. We have a project to work on."

"Yeah, that's due months from now," Aubrey pointed out. "Work on it later."

Chloe quirked a brow at her best friend. "Aubrey Posen, queen of 'get it done sooner rather than later' wants me to put something off?"

"I don't like that you're ditching us for this… alternative loner chick." Aubrey folded her arms across her chest. "You've spent almost every day with her."

"I've been splitting my time with her and you guys," Chloe pointed out. "It'd be nice if you would just give her a chance."

"Idea!" Stacie smiled, giddily. "How about we have our movie night and invite Beca?"

Aubrey looked at the lanky brunette as if she had lost her mind. "Movie night is sacred. It's been us three every other Friday since we were kids."

Stacie held her hands up in mock surrender. "Just a suggestion. Don't bite my head off for it."

"It's a great idea!" Chloe exclaimed. "I'll ask her about it tonight."

Aubrey sighed and dropped her arms down to her side. "What part of 'sacred' did you not understand?"

Chloe's shoulders slumped and she frowned at the blonde. "Would it really upset you if she joined us?"

"Yes it would," Aubrey replied. She rolled her eyes when she saw one of Chloe's pouts forming. "Okay, whatever. Just don't expect me to be nice to her if she starts something."

Chloe squealed happily and hugged Aubrey. "Thank you! I just want you to get along with a new friend. I'd really appreciate it if you tried."

"I'll do as much trying as Beca does," Aubrey informed her.

"That's all I ask," Chloe said, pleased with at least that much.

"I'm totally excited about this," Stacie said. "Does she know you're gay yet?"

"It hasn't come up," Chloe replied. "Why?"

"Are you trying to get with her or not?" Stacie asked in disbelief. "She needs to know these things. The more information she has, the more likely she is to make a move."

"She's just a friend. The warning bell rang and Chloe frowned. Beca hadn't shown up at her locker yet.

"You say friend but I have a feeling you want to get into her pants," Stacie replied.

"Think what you want," Chloe said. "Let's get to class."

Chloe headed to her English class, still wondering where Beca was. She sat down at her desk and pulled out her phone to text the brunette. Just as she was about to hit the send button, Beca entered the classroom and plopped down in her seat.

"Where were you?" Chloe asked, curiously.

"Overslept," Beca sighed. Alex had worked late and overslept, which caused her to oversleep. She really needed to start setting an alarm.

"Are you free tonight?" Chloe asked.

"I don't have anything planned," Beca answered. "I was going to work on my mixes. That's about it."

"Would you want to watch a movie with me, Aubrey and Stacie tonight?"

Beca laughed lightly. "Aubrey doesn't even like breathing in the same air as me."

"She's totally fine with you joining us," Chloe assured her. Beca looked at her skeptically and Chloe sighed. "Okay, so she wasn't thrilled but she's willing to try to be civil if you are."

Chloe pulled out her pout and Beca smirked. "That doesn't work on me."

Chloe frowned. "Oh. Okay, fine. You don't have to join us," she said sadly.

Beca tried to ignore the guilt that washed over her but it was to no avail. "Fine, I'll watch a stupid movie. You know I hate them, though, right? I'm pretty sure it's come up in conversation."

Chloe smiled. "I know. I'll make sure it's at least something without a heavy romance storyline."

"That'll at least make it less painful" was Beca's response before the bell rang, signaling that it was time for class to begin.

* * *

Chloe was at her locker putting away the book she didn't need, excited for Beca to come over to her place and possibly staying to watch a movie with her and her friends. It was definitely a good start to her weekend. She closed her locker and jumped slightly when she spotted Tom, who had been leaning against Beca's locker.

"Hey," Tom greeted her. "So I've been thinking and I've decided that you should be my girlfriend."

Chloe laughed. "Well, I've never had to think about it, but no. Never happening."

"Oh, come on," Tom insisted. "Why not? We'd be awesome together."

Chloe surprised herself with her next words. "I'm not interested Tom. I'm interested in someone else and I'd much rather date her than you."

Tom quirked a brow. "Her?"

Chloe took a deep breath and released it. "Yeah, her."

"Well shit, Chloe," Tom said. "All you had to do was say so. Is it Beca? She is hot in her own dark and scary way."

Chloe was taken aback by the jock's response. "What?"

"It's cool," Tom said. "I'm totally supportive. I kind of had a feeling you had a thing for Beca anyway. Hey, is Aubrey single?"

"Aubrey wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole," Chloe replied. "Sorry. But hey, thanks for not responding how I thought you were going to."

Tom shrugged. "Twenty-first century and all, right? What about Stacie?"

"Bye, Tom," Chloe said.

"Okay, I'm out," Tom walked away, leaving a relieved Chloe alone. She was definitely not expecting that kind of reaction from Tom.

Stacie approached Chloe with a huge grin. "Hey, I'm going to the grocery store before I come over tonight. Should I bring anything specific? You know, for your future girlfriend?"

"Hey," Chloe began, ignoring Stacie's comment. "Do you think it's obvious that I have a thing for Beca?"

Stacie's grin widened. "Is this you admitting that you have a thing for Beca?"

Chloe bit at her bottom lip. "I don't know. She's…" Chloe sighed, deciding to just give in to her feelings. "I like her a lot, yeah. I have a crush on Beca Mitchell. She's probably not even interested. I don't even know if she's gay. I'm an idiot for even letting this crush formulate."

"Calm down there, Chlo," Stacie smiled, amused. "I have a feeling she's into you too. Only one way to find out. I have a plan."

Chloe frowned. Stacie's plans usually didn't end so well. "I don't need a plan."

"You totally need a plan. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."

"Really, Stace," Chloe said. "I'll handle it."

Stacie shook her head. "I'm on it, Chloe. Just leave Beca to me."

Before Chloe could say anything else, Stacie was walking off. She hoped her friend wasn't planning on doing anything that would leave her minus one Beca Mitchell.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Stacie was walking down the hall when she spotted Aubrey. She made her way over to the blonde and smiled at her. "I need your help with something."

Aubrey looked at the brunette suspiciously. "What is it?"

Stacie pulled Aubrey to a quiet area away from the busy hallway. "Chloe just admitted to having a thing for Beca. We have to play matchmakers here."

Aubrey made a face. "Why would I want to help set Chloe up with that disaster?"

Stacie sighed. "Because it'll make her happy and as her best friends we're supposed to be supportive."

"Supportive of good decisions," Aubrey stated. "This is not a good decision."

Stacie rolled her eyes. She should've known Aubrey would be difficult about this. "When's the last time you saw Chloe really excited over something?"

Aubrey looked at Stacie in disbelief. "Yesterday when she snap-chatted us a picture of a puppy."

"Okay, true. But when's the last time she's been excited over a possible love interest?"

Aubrey thought for a moment but couldn't come up with anything recent.

"Exactly," Stacie said when Aubrey remained silent. "Don't you want our best friend to be happy?"

Aubrey sighed. "Of course I do."

"So are you in?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey sighed. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Stacie spotted Beca down the hall and smirked. "Great, come on!"

Aubrey frowned. "What are we doing?"

"Just follow my lead." Stacie grabbed Aubrey by the wrist and pulled her over to Beca. "Hey there, Beca. Can we talk?"

Beca stopped walking and looked from Stacie to Aubrey. "About?"

Stacie shrugged. "Just figured we'd get to know you since you're Chloe's new friend and we're her best friends. Just makes sense that we talk."

Beca didn't like this. They were probably up to something and she didn't want to become the punchline of whatever joke was going on. "I'm good."

Aubrey gave Stacie a look that her friend chose to ignore.

"Chloe says you're into music," Stacie continued. "She mentioned that you make mixes."

Beca was about to respond when Tom approached them with a huge smile on his face. "Hey, Mitchell. Way to score the hottest girl at Barden. He held up his hand for a high-five.

Beca shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Chloe." Tom dropped his hand down to his side. "She said she's into you, but if she were at least bi, you totally wouldn't have stood a chance against me. Just so you know. You just got lucky with her being gay and all." Tom looked at Aubrey and winked. "Hey, Aubrey. How about you and-,"

"Ew," Aubrey cut him off.

Tom looked over at Stacie. "Hey, Sta-,"

"Bye, Tom," Stacie said before he could get anything else out.

Tom sighed and walked away, leaving a very confused Beca behind.

Beca gestured down the hall. "I'm going go now." She still felt like something weird was going on and she felt it was best to get away from Chloe's friends.

Stacie watched as Beca walked away. "What the hell just happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Aubrey replied. "Let's go find Chloe and try to diffuse whatever situation Tom's big mouth just created."

Chloe was sitting in the cafeteria with the Bellas when Aubrey and Stacie finally joined them. "Hey, what'd you do?" She asked Stacie. She had been worried about what the brunette had planned ever since she left.

"_I _didn't do anything," Stacie replied. "Tom on the other hand…"

"What'd you tell him?" Aubrey asked. "He pretty much told Beca that you're into her."

Chloe's eyes widened in pure horror. "He didn't."

Aubrey nodded. "He so did. Why'd you even tell him that you're gay?"

"I was trying to make him shut up," Chloe sighed. "What'd Beca say?"

"She looked freaked," Aubrey replied.

Stacie nudged Aubrey. "She didn't look freaked. Just… confused."

"In a freaked out sort of way," Aubrey added, ignoring the light hit on her shoulder from Stacie.

Chloe groaned. "She's not going to want to talk to me now."

"That's not true," Stacie replied.

"She has to," Aubrey added. "You have a project together."

Chloe slumped in her chair. She was sure that Beca would decide to pass on working on their project after school just to avoid her.

* * *

It was the end of the day and Chloe was at her locker grabbing the textbooks she would need for class when she heard a voice clear beside her. She looked behind the door of her locker and was surprised to see Beca there. "Beca, hi. I wasn't expecting to see you." She smiled brightly at the other girl as she closed her locker.

"Well you are my ride to your place," Beca reminded her. "Unless that's changed."

Chloe shook her head. "It hasn't." She hugged her two books to her chest and began walking down the hallway with Beca.

"I can carry those for you," Beca gestured to the books. When she thought of how weird the offer was, she quickly added, "They just look heavy and I thought I'd help out or whatever."

Chloe smiled and held out her books for Beca to take. "Thanks, Beca."

Beca took the books and continued to follow Chloe out of the school. She wanted to ask about what Tom had said but still had a feeling that this was a plan of some sort. She'd freak Chloe out and the redhead would stop talking to her and the redhead's friends would get what they wanted. For her to go away.

Chloe was thinking about bringing up the topic as well but since Beca wasn't, she figured the brunette either didn't believe Tom or didn't have any interest in Chloe the way she wanted her to. "Do your parents know you're coming over? I don't want you to get in trouble."

Beca smirked. "My sister knows." Alex had told her if she was going to be spending time alone with Chloe, then she needed to get laid.

"Do your parents work a lot too?" Chloe had never heard Beca talk about her parents. Only her sister, Alex and her sister's girlfriend, Piper.

Beca bit the inside of her cheek as she thought about how to answer. She surprised herself by her response. "My sister's been taking care of me since I was born. Legally, since I was thirteen. I've never met my father and my mother has a drug problem. I don't even know where she is now. Probably in jail or something."

"Oh." Chloe's heart broke for Beca. She couldn't imagine growing up the way Beca must've.

"Yeah, it's been an interesting seventeen years."

Chloe glanced over at Beca with a small smile. "Well, I'd love to meet Alex one day. I bet she's awesome."

Beca laughed. "She's definitely something." She stopped at Chloe's car and watched the redhead dig through her purse for her keys. She was surprised that the redhead hadn't asked a bunch of questions. Even Amy and Jesse (mostly Jesse) had swamped her with questions. She wasn't complaining. She hated talking about her mother. She appreciated the redhead not trying to pry.

"I'm so excited for tonight!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling Beca from her thoughts. "You're fine with _The Notebook, _right?" Beca made a face and Chloe laughed.

"Watch it, Beale. I'll totally bail on you."

Chloe pressed the button on her car remote to unlock the doors. "You so wouldn't. You enjoy my company too much." Chloe got into her car and Beca couldn't even think of a retort because it was true. She enjoyed being around Chloe.

* * *

Chloe pulled up in front of her house and Beca stared at it in awe. The house was huge. Beca couldn't even imagine living in a house like this. The lawn was neatly mowed and there were flowers of all varieties growing.

Chloe looked over at Beca who was still staring at the house with her mouth agape. She thought the brunette looked adorable. "My parents are home at the moment but they won't be for long. Don't be intimidated by them. They're nice people."

Beca was already intimidated just from seeing the house. She was definitely going to be nervous to meet Chloe's lawyer parents. Taking a deep breath, she followed Chloe out of the car and up to the front door. Chloe unlocked the door and walked inside with Beca. "I'm home!"

Beca was greeted by a huge foyer that was decorated by paintings and family photos. As she looked around, she saw a redheaded woman approach them from down the hall along with a man with black and gray hair on the side. He looked very sophisticated.

Evelyn smiled at Beca. "Hi, you must be a new friend of Chloe's."

Chloe placed a hand on Beca's lower back as she introduced Beca to her parents. "This is Beca."

Evelyn held out her hand. "Hello, Beca. It's nice to meet you."

"You as well, Mrs. Beale." Beca tried to sound as upbeat as she could as she shook the woman's hand.

Mr. Beale shook her hand as well. "Wish I could say I've heard about you but Chloe's never mentioned making any new friends."

"Your busy schedules haven't allowed for much catching up," Chloe stated.

"We had dinner together last night," Charles stated.

Chloe wanted to point out that dinner last night was spent with her parents both glued to their phones but decided to remain silent.

Evelyn looked at Beca. "What do your parents do, sweetheart? Maybe I've met them before. I used to be a part of the school board."

"You were a part of the school board for like five seconds," Chloe said, hoping to draw her mother's attention away from Beca's personal life.

Evelyn turned her attention away from Beca to look at her daughter. "I lasted long enough. Oh, by the way, you left your dishes on the counter this morning. I'm too busy with work to be your maid, Chlo."

Chloe looked over at Beca. "You can head upstairs. I'll be up in a minute."

Beca was sure she'd get lost but could tell that Chloe wanted to talk to her mother in private. She headed up the spiral staircase and hoped that she would be able to find the room with little effort.

Chloe looked to her mother after Beca was out of earshot. "I figured I'd leave you proof that I've eaten so you don't have to ask every day."

Evelyn sighed and placed a hand on her hip. "I don't need proof of you eating. I just want to know that you're taking care of yourself, Chloe. I worry."

"Yeah, sweetheart," Charles jumped in. "We went through a lot when you were sick and we just want to make sure that you're taking care of yourself."

"And I get that," Chloe assured them. "I just don't like when-,"

There was a honking from outside and Charles looked at his watch. "That's the cab. We have to get going." He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and handed Chloe cash before kissing her on the top of the head. "We'll be back Monday morning."

Evelyn hugged her daughter before going to grab her suitcase that was waiting for her by the front door. "Love you, sweetie. Call if you need anything."

Chloe watched her parents leave the house and sighed before locking the front door. She headed upstairs and smiled when she heard humming coming from her room. Upon entering her room, she found Beca looking through her music collection. "Not surprised you were drawn to that."

Beca looked over at Chloe as she set the CDs down. "Sorry, I just wanted to see what you had."

Chloe smiled. "It's fine, Beca." Chloe kicked off her shoes and set her purse down before sitting on the edge of her bed. "It's just us now so you can relax."

"Where'd your parents go?" Beca asked.

"To de-stress at their vacation house in California. They'll probably just end up responding to emails. I don't think they know what an actual good time is."

"So you're just here by yourself until they get back?" Beca knew that had to be lonely, especially in the huge house but Chloe didn't seem to mind.

"I'm used to it." Chloe got up and went over to her the iPod dock on her desk. She turned on her iPod and Tegan and Sara began to play.

Beca smiled and looked surprised by this musical selection. "You like Tegan and Sara?"

"Love them," Chloe corrected before getting back onto her bed.

Beca watched as Chloe laid on her bed and began to sing along with the song. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to be doing. "Do you want to talk about the project?"

"Maybe later." Chloe gestured for Beca to come join her on the bed. "You can sit, Beca," she smiled. "Relax."

"I'm relaxed." Beca kicked off her shoes and got onto the bed.

"Have you listened to Nyssa's album yet?"

Beca smiled at hearing the name of her favorite deejay. "Only like a thousand times since you gave it to me."

The two launched into a conversation about music forgetting all about the project that had been the reason for Beca coming over. Chloe hadn't forgotten, though, about what Tom had said to Beca. It hadn't come up at all so Chloe wasn't going to broach the subject but she knew once Stacie and Aubrey arrived, Stacie would be up to her usual interfering behavior. Having the two other girls in the house with Beca was definitely going to prove to be an interesting night.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Chloe was laughing at something Beca had said when she heard the doorbell ring. She composed herself and got up from her bed. "That's Aubrey and Stacie."

Beca tried to hide her disappointment as she stood up. She had really been enjoying her alone time with Chloe. She followed the redhead downstairs and sat on the bottom of the stairs as Chloe went to open the front door.

As soon as the door was opened, Stacie opened her mouth to ask Chloe about Beca but stopped when she spotted said brunette, sitting on the stairs. "Hey, Beca."

"Hi." Beca threw a wave her way. "Aubrey," she greeted sardonically. "Always a pleasure."

Aubrey looked at Chloe with irritation written all over her face. "She's starting."

Chloe shook her head. "She's not. Just come in and behave."

Aubrey grumbled something and entered the house with Stacie. "We're going to go set up in the entertainment room," she said before walking away

Chloe went over to Beca and gave her a strict look. "Don't be mean to Aubrey. She'll be civil if you are."

Beca smirked. "But she makes it so easy to mess with her."

Chloe laughed lightly. "She does, doesn't she? Just try to tone it down. I don't want her trying to strangle you halfway through the night."

"Okay, okay. I'll be nice," Beca said as she got up from the stairs. She still wasn't too sure about Chloe's friends since she still believed they tried to pull a joke on her with the whole "Chloe likes you" situation earlier. "So an entertainment room, huh? Sounds fancy."

Chloe reached for Beca's hand and began to pull her down the hall. "It is."

Beca looked down at their hands as Chloe guided her around a corner to a huge room. She looked around at the entertainment system. It was bigger than her own room. "This is crazy big."

"I know," Chloe agreed as she released Beca's hand. "My parents like to overdo it." She went over to the stack of DVDs that Stacie had set on the couch. "Comedy and horror films. That work for you, Becs?"

"Aw, cute nickname," Stacie grinned causing Chloe to glare at her. "So, Beca, Chloe says your sister is gay. Was that something difficult for you to accept?"

"Stacie," Chloe chided.

"What? It's just a question," Stacie said.

"Um, it wasn't hard to accept at all. Love is love, right?" Beca answered.

"Right," Stacie agreed. "I'm totally for gay everything," she assured her. "One of our good friends is gay."

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked to Aubrey for help but Beca's cell phone went off distracting the brunette from Stacie's antics.

"It's my sister," Beca said as she looked at her caller ID. "I'll be right back."

Chloe waited for Beca to leave the room before she looked at Stacie. "What are you doing?" She whispered loudly

"Trying to get you the girl, obviously," Stacie answered. "You really need to start making some moves, Chlo. I can only do so much."

"You're ridiculous," Chloe said, good-naturedly.

"She's right, though," Aubrey agreed, reluctantly. "If you want to be with Beca, which I still don't understand, then you're going to need to be a bit more forward."

"Okay, I can do that," Chloe assured them.

* * *

"But you're my ride home," Beca said into the phone as she stood in the foyer.

"I'm sorry, Becs," Alex said. "I was called in and I'm not exactly in a position to pass on making more money. Can't the object of your affection take you home?"

"She's not the object of my affection. …And yeah, she could," Beca replied, not wanting to admit to Alex that she was embarrassed about how they were living compared to Chloe.

"Problem solved. So how's that project thing going?"

"We actually didn't get to that today. We were-,"

"Did you two fool around?" Alex teased. "Did my little sister get to second-base with someone?"

"Ohmygod, with Chloe?" Beca heard Piper exclaim in the background.

"No, I'm just messing with her. We all know Beca's going to become a nun."

"Alex," Beca whined. "I'm hanging up on you."

Alex laughed. "Don't be so fucking sensitive. I'm just messing with you. Text me when you get home tonight. If you don't, I'll think you're dead and if I find out you're not, I'll be pissed at you for making me worry."

"I'll text you," Beca assured her sister. She heard footsteps behind her and knew it was Chloe from the scent that followed. _God, I'm such a creeper. _"I'll see you tomorrow, Lex." Beca ended the call and turned around to face Chloe.

"Hey, everything okay?" Chloe asked.

Beca nodded. "Everything's fine. My sister was just letting me know that she can't pick me up tonight. Do you think you could take me home?"

Chloe smiled brightly. "Of course I can. I'm going to order a pizza. Do you have a preference?"

Beca shook her head. "I'll eat whatever."

Not wanting Beca to be anywhere near Stacie without her present, she took Beca by the hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. "The menus are in the kitchen. We can order and then go join Stacie and Aubrey."

* * *

Hours later, the girls were watching their second movie and Stacie was not satisfied with the amount of space between Chloe and Beca. She reached over Aubrey in order to tap the redhead on the knee.

Chloe looked over at her and Stacie mouthed, "scoot over." The redhead rolled her eyes and tried to ignore her friend but Stacie was being persistent.

"Hey, Bree can you scoot over a bit?" Stacie asked.

"Chlo scoot over," Aubrey said.

"I can't," Chloe replied.

"Of course you can." Aubrey moved over forcing Chloe to sit closer to Beca.

She glared at the blonde before looking at Beca. "Sorry."

"It's cool." Beca went back to watching the movie wondering if the actors had been as bored making the movie as she was watching it.

Stacie leaned over Aubrey again and whispered to Chloe. "Make a move."

"I will," Chloe whispered back, hoping Beca wasn't paying them any mind.

A few more minutes went by and Beca was caught off guard when Chloe's hand found its way to her thigh. She stiffened and glanced over at the redhead but Chloe was still watching the movie. She relaxed after a few seconds and decided that it was an unconscious action made by the redhead. She thought back to Tom's words and wondered if they had in fact been true but then she came back to reality. There was no way Chloe Beale would be into someone like her. No possible way.

* * *

After three movies and some light conversation, Beca was finally outside of her house. She scratched the back of her neck and looked over at Chloe. "Thanks for dropping me off."

"Not a problem," Chloe beamed.

"What are you going to do when you get home?" Beca asked, not wanting to leave Chloe just yet.

Chloe shrugged. "I'll probably watch TV or listen to music. Anything so that it's not quiet. I hate being left alone there sometimes. I start to hear things and think someone's living in the house that we don't know about, which wouldn't really come as a surprise to me."

"You could stay here tonight." Beca hadn't even planned on saying that when she opened her mouth. What was her brain doing? "Um, I- uh…you don't have to or anything. My place is nowhere near as nice as yours but you could stay the night. I mean, if you have someone secretly living in your house, it'd be a good idea for you to stay here."

Chloe smiled at the brunette. "I'd actually really like that." Chloe turned off the ignition.

"Oh… okay, awesome. Let's get inside." Beca was shocked that Chloe had accepted the invitation that she hadn't even meant to make. She headed up to her front door with Chloe and unlocked the door. She let the redhead walk in first before she entered and flipped on a light. "It's not much but it's home."

Chloe looked around and smiled. "It's cozy."

Beca shifted on her feet. "Is that a nice way of saying it looks bad?"

Chloe shook her head and looked at Beca. "It's nice, Beca. You actually have to see your sister at some point. I can barely figure out where in the house my parents are half the time. Can I see your room?"

"Sure." Beca moved towards the stairs and Chloe followed. Once in her room, Beca flipped on the light and did a quick scan to make sure the room looked decent.

Chloe was instantly drawn to Beca's desk. It had a soundboard on it along with a laptop. "So this is where you do your magic?"

Beca smiled. "Yeah, it's my favorite place to be. In my room working on music."

"Can I hear more of your stuff?" Chloe asked.

Beca opened her laptop and turned it on. "Are you in the mood for anything in particular?" Beca was relieved that Chloe didn't seem to think badly of her home. She should've known better. Chloe wasn't one to judge. Past friends usually commented on how small her room was and made jokes about the neighborhood.

Chloe sat at Beca's desk and Beca stood behind her and leaned over her shoulder so that she could use the mouse to open her music folder. Chloe turned her head and glanced up at her, thinking that if Beca just turned her head even a little bit, she'd be able to kiss her. She was lost in thought when she heard her name.

"Chloe." Beca was looking at the redhead and her thoughts followed the same path as Chloe's. All she would have to do is lean in just a little.

"Yeah?" Chloe asked, her gaze dropping to Beca's lips.

Beca noticed where Chloe's attention was and remained silent as she tried to figure out what she should do. She could move, which would probably make things a lot less awkward than kissing the redhead and then getting rejected afterwards. Deciding to not make a fool out of herself, Beca looked at her laptop and clicked a song before standing up. "I made this one a few months ago. It's one of my favorites."

Chloe felt her heart drop to her stomach as she watched Beca move to sit down on the edge of her bed. She should've taken advantage of the moment but she hadn't. This was going to bother her for the rest of the night if she didn't say or do something now.

"Are you okay?" Beca could see that Chloe was currently thinking a lot about something. "Do you want to leave? I'll totally understand if you want to." Beca stood back up and stopped the song that was playing. "You probably felt obligated to say yes to staying over but you can totally-,"

"Beca," Chloe cut her off as she stood up to face the brunette. "Um… Tom mentioned me having a thing for you today, didn't he?"

Beca was taken aback by the question and shoved her hands into her pockets as she answered. "Yeah, I knew it was a joke, though. You don't have to worry about me trying anything if that's what you're worried about."

Chloe shook her head and took a step towards Beca. "Tom's a tool but he wasn't playing a joke on you."

Beca's eyes widened. "W-what?"

Chloe let out a breath, hoping this was the right decision. "I really like you a lot, Beca."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Beca stood frozen for a few seconds before she remembered how to speak. "You- you like me?"

Chloe nodded as she played with the hem of her shirt. "A lot."

The brunette bit at her bottom lip as she furrowed her brows. Chloe Beale liked her? That couldn't be true. "Why?"

Chloe's shoulders slumped at Beca's hesitant reaction. "Because you're pretty awesome and I enjoy being around you."

Beca shook her head. She couldn't believe she had gotten it all wrong. Chloe was in on this stupid joke with Tom and her friends. "Why are you doing this?"

Chloe frowned. "Doing what?"

Beca clenched her jaw as she tried to keep her anger at bay. "I thought you were different. What's the point of this? Did you find out that I have a crush on you and want to tell the school that I'm gay or something? Well, it's not really a secret. I'm out. I just haven't had a reason to let it be known. You and your friends can just fuck off, alright?" Beca exited her room and headed downstairs to the front door.

"Wait, Beca." Chloe couldn't believe how wrong this was going. "This isn't a joke," she said as she followed Beca.

Beca opened the front door and gestured for Chloe to leave. "Just go, Chloe."

Chloe closed the door and locked it back. "Not until you hear me out."

Beca folded her arms across her chest and remained silent. Chloe took this as her cue to speak. "This isn't a game. I told Tom that I was gay and he immediately realized that I had a thing for you. Stacie and Aubrey- well, mostly Stacie, have been trying to figure out if you like me back and you just admitted that you have a crush on me so maybe we can see where this goes... if you want to."

Beca's arms unfolded and dropped back down to her sides. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Chloe wanted to be with her. "I've had a crush on you since freshman year," she admitted. "I mean, I always thought you were a stuck-up rich bitch but I was wrong. You're actually pretty amazing."

Chloe smiled, amused by Beca's confession. "Why would you have a crush on a stuck-up rich bitch?"

The smaller girl blushed and scratched the top of her head. "Um, you always smiled at me in the halls and you let me keep your pencil one time in math class. But then you became friends with Alice who was a super bitch to me and I just lumped you and her group of friends together."

Chloe cringed at hearing Alice's name. Alice had been a junior when Chloe was a freshman and also the captain of the Bellas. She was part of the reason why Chloe had developed an eating disorder. "She wasn't the best person. I'm sorry she was mean to you. I thought it was great that she wanted to be friends with me and I was new to the school and wanted to fit in. I call it my stupid stage."

A smile tugged at Beca's lips. "Yeah, we all have those."

"So, what now?"

Beca shrugged. She wasn't exactly sure what was expected of her now. "It's whatever you want to do."

Chloe smiled warmly. "Well, I was hoping we could date and see what happens."

Beca's heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. "Okay, we can do that," she said, trying to keep her cool. "Sorry I told you to fuck off."

Chloe gently punched Beca on the shoulder. "Yeah, that was pretty rude of you." Chloe tried to hold back a yawn and Beca smiled.

"Want to go back upstairs? I can give you something to sleep in."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Beca smiled and headed back up to her room, wondering if this was a dream she'd wake up from at any moment.

Once the two were dressed in nightclothes, they sat down on Beca's bed and listened to Nyssa's album. Chloe found it endearing how excited Beca became over each song.

"There's a sick transition coming up right here," Beca said, excitedly.

Chloe chuckled and scooted closer to Beca. "You're really adorable."

Beca blushed. "Sorry, I just get so into it."

Chloe slid her hand over to Beca's and linked their fingers together. "I love how much you enjoy music. It's one of my favorite things about you."

Beca grinned. "What else do you like about me?"

"A lot of things," Chloe said, softly as her gaze dropped to Beca's lips.

"I am pretty awesome," Beca joked as she leaned in towards Chloe.

"Yeah, you definitely are," Chloe agreed before closing the gap between her and Beca.

Beca's heart sporadically jumped around in her chest at the feeling of Chloe's soft lips on her own. Chloe let her tongue snake out, running it along Beca's bottom lip. The brunette parted her lips and let out a satisfied moan when Chloe's tongue slid against her own.

The kiss lasted a few more seconds before Chloe pulled away, biting the bottom of her lip. "That was nice.

Beca hummed her agreement before leaning in again for another kiss. She was caught off guard when Chloe moved to lie down in the middle of the bed, pulling Beca by the hand so that she would be on top of her. If Beca's heart was freaking out before, it was seconds away from exploding now.

Chloe leaned up to capture Beca's lips and trailed her hand up her shirt as they continued to make-out. Beca realized that things were escalating when Chloe reached down for her belt so she broke their kiss and moved off of Chloe.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked, sitting up as well.

"We should slow down," Beca said. "We don't need to rush things."

Chloe laughed lightly out of embarrassment. "Sorry, I got carried away." Chloe was used to fast-paced relationships. Her ex-girlfriends were never much for waiting.

"Definitely not complaining," Beca assured her. "I would just like to take you out on a date and spend some time wooing you, ya know?"

Chloe smiled and leaned over to kiss Beca. "You're sweet." She looked over at the clock on Beca's nightstand before looking back at the brunette. "I guess we should get some sleep."

"Yeah, I am getting tired." Beca got up from the bed. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything, okay?"

"I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed."

"It's totally fine," Beca assured her as she grabbed a pillow and a spare blanket. "Goodnight, Chloe."

Chloe smiled. "Goodnight, Beca." She watched the brunette leave before lying back down and letting out a content sigh. The night's events had played out in her favor and she couldn't wait to see how things developed between herself and Beca.

* * *

Beca awoke the next morning when she felt someone poking her in the face. She opened her eyes and rolled them when she saw that it was Alex. "Why do you love to pester me?" She groaned tiredly.

"You have a hot redhead in your bed and you're down here," Alex stated. "How does that even begin to make sense?"

Beca sat up and reached for the coffee that Alex was holding. "I'm a gentleman."

Alex let Beca take her coffee and sat down beside her. "What's she doing here?" She asked, curiously.

"Sorry, I should've asked first," Beca said, thinking maybe Alex was upset.

"I don't care if she's here. I'm just curious as to why." Beca sipped the coffee and made a face before handing it back. Alex grinned at her reaction. "I was up late. I needed something strong. So, why's Red here?"

"She lives in this huge house and her parents are gone for the weekend. It's a little creepy staying in a big house alone so I invited her over."

Alex laughed. "Staying alone in a mansion? Life is so hard."

"Don't be an asshole," Beca said. "She's really nice and not at all what I had expected. I, um, we're...dating, I guess."

Alex quirked a brow in amusement. "You guess? Either you're dating or you're not."

"Okay, we're dating," Beca replied. "We're going to see what happens between us before we make anything official."

"Maybe now you can get laid and stop being so intense," Alex said. "Piper's going to be so fucking thrilled to hear about this."

"Can you manage not to embarrass me when you meet her?" Beca asked.

Alex shrugged as she smirked mischievously. "I can't promise anything."

There was a knock at the door and Alex stood up from the couch, placing her cup on the coffee table. "That's Piper with breakfast." She went to open the door and as Beca tried to decide if she would go check on Chloe or not, the redhead entered the living room.

"Morning," Chloe said, running a hand through her hair.

Beca looked in awe of Chloe's morning look. Her hair looked like she had never gone to bed. She was wide awake and as gorgeous as ever. She, on the other hand, knew her hair looked like she had rolled around on the floor. She probably had bags under her eyes and she was definitely not even close to being wide awake. "How do you look so hot right now?" Beca realized what she had said and blushed. "Sorry, I just mean-,"

Chloe laughed and moved to sit beside Beca. "You can say I'm hot." She leaned over and kissed Beca on the cheek. "You're really freakin' adorable, Becs."

"Isn't she just the cutest?" Alex entered the living room with Piper.

Beca rolled her eyes at the grin that Alex was sporting.

"Aw, I didn't know you had a guest over, Beca," Piper gushed. "I only brought breakfast for three."

"Thanks, Piper," Beca said. "I can share with Chloe."

Chloe placed a hand on Beca's thigh. "It's okay. I can grab something on my way home."

"I don't mind sharing. Besides, if I feed you, you might stay longer."

Chloe grinned and squeezed Beca's thigh gently. "I would've stayed longer either way."

Beca was feeling more shy than usual with her sister and Piper watching her interact with Chloe. They both looked amused and it made her want to just drag Chloe upstairs to her room so they'd be alone.

"Alright, let's eat. I'm starving." Alex took the bag from Piper and peeked into it. "What the hell is this?"

"It's scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, asparagus and goat cheese," Piper replied, happily.

Alex looked at her girlfriend in disbelief. "Where the fuck is my bacon?"

"This is high in protein, babe," Piper said, ignoring Alex's question. "Just try it."

"Wait," Chloe cut in excitedly. "Did you get that from The Smokey Griddle?"

"I did! It's my first time going since they opened a few weeks ago."

"They're breakfast foods are so delicious! And the café next to it makes the best feta cheese turkey burgers."

Piper's jaw dropped open. "You like feta cheese turkey burgers?"

"Love them!" Chloe replied.

"I fucking love you!" Piper exclaimed before looking at Beca. "Your girlfriend is my spirt animal!"

Beca blushed at Piper's words and quickly tried to correct her. "Oh, we're n-."

"Come with me to the kitchen," Piper said to Chloe before walking off.

Chloe slid her hand further up Beca's thigh as she turned her head to look at her. "I'll be right back."

Beca simply nodded, not trusting her voice due to the placement of Chloe's hand. Alex watched in amusement and once Chloe had left, she took her spot on the couch.

"That girl so wants in your pants," Alex laughed.

"Shut up," Beca whispered, hoping Chloe had gone far enough away to not hear Alex.

"Piper apparently loves her so you know you're going to have to keep her, right?" Alex joked.

"I hope I can," Beca replied with a sigh. "She's out of my league and she'll probably get bored with me."

"Oh, shut up," Alex scoffed. "You're fucking awesome and she sees that or she wouldn't be here."

Beca smiled. "Maybe."

"Definitely," Alex corrected, nudging her sister with her shoulder. "So, how are your mixes going?"

"Pretty good," Beca replied. "That laptop is going to crap out on my soon. I can tell. I'm going to lose my mind when that happens."

"I'll get you a new one," Alex assured her.

Beca shook her head. "Good laptops for what I need them for are expensive. Don't worry about it."

"I'm going to get you a laptop," Alex repeated. "One way better than that shitty one you have. You'll need it for college anyway."

Beca groaned at the mention of college. "I'm not going to college."

Alex rolled her eyes as she adjusted her glasses. "You're fucking going." Alex stood up from the couch. "Come on, let's go save your girlfriend from Piper."

Beca opened her mouth to correct her sister but decided not to. She liked the sound of Chloe being her girlfriend. Smiling, she got up and followed Alex out of the living room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Beca was sitting in her room next to Chloe as the redhead made her watch YouTube videos on her phone when her phone rang. It was Amy's ringtone. She picked it up from beside her and answered it. "Hey, Amy."

"Hey, we're going to the arcade. Are you in?" Amy asked.

"Um, I'm actually with Chloe right now," Beca answered.

"She can come too," Amy replied. "Ask her."

"Okay, uh, give me a second." Beca muted her phone and looked over at Chloe. "It's Amy. She and Jesse are going to the arcade that we usually hangout at. You don't have to come but if you wanted to, you're totally welcome."

Chloe smiled. "I'd love to go.

"Okay, awesome." Beca unmuted her phone. "Hey, Amy. Chloe's in."

"Fantastic. So what's she doing there at twelve in the afternoon?" Amy asked, curiously.

"We have that project we're working on." Beca wasn't sure if Chloe wanted people knowing about them.

"Oh, that's right. Should we come get you or are you going to meet us at the arcade?"

"We'll meet you there. See you in a few." Beca ended the call and saw Chloe looking at her in amusement. "What?"

"We're working on our project?" Chloe asked.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want them to know about us," Beca explained. "We're not even a couple or anything. I wasn't- I didn't-,"

Chloe placed her hand on Beca's thigh and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "Relax. I get it. If they do want answers, just tell them the truth."

Beca smiled. "Okay, I'll do that."

"So, do you guys go to this arcade a lot?" Chloe asked as she got up from the bed to slip her shoes on.

"Yeah, I used to go all the time when-," Beca stopped talking and shook her head. "It was just a nice place to get away."

"Hey." Chloe moved back onto the bed and looked at Beca. "You used to go all the time when…?"

"When my mom would get high." Beca ran a hand through her hair. "Alex had already moved out and was working a lot so I couldn't always get a hold of her. The plan was for her to get her life together and then take me in but things were getting too rough at home so she took me in sooner than planned. She never really got a chance to get her life together the way she wanted to."

Chloe reached for Beca's hand and linked their fingers together. "Hey, she loves you. I can tell. If you're thinking you're a burden, that's far from the truth."

Beca quirked a brow. "You can tell all that from this morning?"

Chloe nodded. "You two have a great relationship."

Beca smiled. It was true. She and Alex did have a great relationship. Beca leaned forward to kiss Chloe just as her room door opened.

"Oh!" Piper exclaimed. "Sorry!" She closed the door and knocked on it.

Beca chuckled. "Yeah, Piper?"

Piper entered the room looking apologetic. "Sorry about that. We're heading out. Do you guys want to join us?"

"We're going to the arcade with Amy and Jesse," Beca replied.

Piper smiled. "That should be fun." She looked from Beca to Chloe. "You two are so cute together," she gushed.

Beca blushed at her words as Chloe beamed. "Thanks," Chloe replied, happily.

"Alright, you two enjoy yourselves," Piper said before leaving the room, still smiling at how cute the two were.

"Sorry," Beca said to Chloe.

"No, it's fine. We do make a pretty adorable couple." Chloe got up from the bed and ran a hand through her hair. "You ready to go?"

Beca got up as well and followed Chloe out of the room. She hoped her friends managed not to be too embarrassing but that was probably hoping for too much.

* * *

Beca entered the arcade with Chloe and walked to the back where Amy and Jesse were already playing a game. Chloe reached for Beca's hand and linked their fingers together as they neared the two. "Hey, guys," Beca greeted them.

Amy and Jesse looked at the two, smiling when they noticed that they were holding hands.

"This is different," Amy gestured to their hands.

Beca blushed. "Yeah, new development." She hoped the two wouldn't dwell on it right now. She did want to talk to them about her new relationship with Chloe but she would prefer the redhead not to be present for it.

"So like...are you two a thing?" Jesse asked, unsure of how to phrase his question.

Chloe wondered if maybe Beca's friends wouldn't be thrilled with the idea of Beca dating her. "Yeah, you could say that. It won't be a problem will it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jesse asked with a grin. "This one," he gestured towards Beca, "has been crushing on you for the longest time. We're just shocked you're actually interested is all."

Beca reached out and punched Jesse in his shoulder. "Jerk," she mumbled.

"I'm kidding!" Jesse laughed as he rubbed his shoulder.

Chloe noticed a DDR game and bounced excitedly as she pulled at the hem of Beca's shirt. "Let's go play that!"

Beca looked over to where Chloe was pointing and chuckled. "You would be drawn to a dancing game."

"We'll come join you in a minute," Amy said as Chloe pulled Beca towards the game. She looked to Jesse with a grin. "We totally made that happen."

Jesse made an "obviously" face. "We're awesome at the whole match-making thing." He glanced over at Beca and Chloe who were getting tokens from the machine. "Beca looks happy."

Amy nodded in agreement. "Here's hoping Chloe doesn't break her heart," she said before turning back to the game she and Jesse had been playing.

* * *

Chloe was laughing as she entered her house with Beca behind her. She had really enjoyed herself at the arcade but was now looking forward to spending some alone time with Beca. "You don't have anything you need to be doing, right?"

"Nope, I'm all yours," Beca said as she allowed Chloe to take her by the hand and pull her upstairs. "So you're not hanging out with Aubrey and Stacie today?"

"Later," Chloe replied as she entered her room. "Aubrey has to do this golf thing with her father and his boss."

Beca made a face. "That sounds like a horrible time."

"She loves it," Chloe replied. "Her father tells his boss or co-worker how awesome she is and about all her accomplishments. She really enjoys the attention. She doesn't get it often from her parents."

"And what about Stacie?" Beca asked, figuring the brunette's parents were just as absent in her life. "Are her parents cool?"

"They forget that they have a kid sometimes." Chloe got onto her bed, pulling Beca onto it with her. "Stacie doesn't care. She gets to do whatever she wants." Chloe leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Beca's lips. When Beca smiled in response, Chloe kissed her again. The two began to make-out and as things intensified, Beca felt herself becoming nervous. Chloe slipped her hand up Beca's shirt and nipped at the brunette's bottom lip. She slowly let her had ascend until she reached Beca's bra.

Beca's breath hitched in her throat when she felt Chloe's fingers slip just under her bra. She moved her hand to Chloe's wrist and gently pulled it back down to her stomach. Chloe grinned at the action and began to trail kisses along Beca's neck. "Sorry, I'm trying to behave."

"You're fine. I just- sex or just being even semi-sexual with someone makes me nervous and I get awkward. I'm s-,"

Chloe placed a kiss on Beca's lips, silencing her. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for and you don't have to explain yourself to me. We won't do anything you're not ready for."

Beca smiled, relieved that Chloe wasn't irritated with her. "We can still make-out. I definitely wasn't complaining about that."

Chloe laughed lightly as she leaned in to continue kissing her girlfriend.

* * *

Chloe pulled up in front of Beca's house later that afternoon and frowned when she saw Alex outside arguing with an older woman. Beca rolled her eyes when she realized who the woman was and looked over at Chloe. "Thanks for dropping me off. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hey, are you okay?" Chloe could sense how quickly Beca had gone from calm to agitated just at the sight of the woman.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You should get going. Stacie and Aubrey might get pissed that I've taken up so much of your time today."

Chloe reached for Beca's hand and leaned over to kiss her. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" She really didn't want to leave but she could tell that Beca wanted her to.

"I will. Thanks." Beca opened the car door and Chloe could clearly hear Alex telling the other woman to leave before she called the police.

Beca closed the car door and waved sheepishly at Chloe. She didn't want the redhead witnessing the hot mess that was her life right now. She approached the two arguing women, gaining both their attention.

"Beca!" the elder of the woman exclaimed. "Look at you. You look so beautiful." She took a step towards the brunette and Beca stepped back.

"Mom, you're high," Beca stated. "Can you just leave?"

"What? I'm not allowed to check in on my children?"

"What do you want?" Alex asked, angrily. "Money? I don't have it to give, especially for you to go waste it on getting high."

"I don't want anything from you. I just wanted to see how you're doing," the woman said, obviously out of it. "I was actually thinking about getting clean. I would need a new place to stay for that to happen, though."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're not staying here," Alex said in disbelief. "No way in hell."

The woman turned away from Alex to look at Beca. "Sweetie, I want to get clean. Remember all the fun we used to have? We can have that back."

Beca laughed dryly at her mother's words. "Oh yeah, a lot of fucking fun we had. Let's see, there was hide and seek when I was six. You'd have your crack buddies over and tell us to hide in our room until you came and got us the next morning. Oh, and my personal favorite, the silent game we used to play when we had to pretend no one was home when your drug dealer came looking to get his money."

"Becs," the woman began.

"No," Alex cut her off. "Don't talk to her. Just leave." Alex looked at her sister. "Get inside, alright?"

Beca began to walk into the house but stopped when her mother began yelling. "I am your mother! You don't walk away from me!" Beca continued inside and closed the door.

Alex stepped closer to her mother and looked at her menacingly. "You are not her mother. I raised her. I was seven waking up in the middle of the night to take care of her when you would ignore her crying."

"Alex," the woman reached out to take her daughter's hand but Alex pushed her hand away.

"Leave. I don't want to have to tell you again."

"I can get clean," the woman slurred. "I'll show you."

Alex watched as the woman headed back to her rundown car and turned to head back inside. She locked the door and called for her sister.

"Living room."

Alex entered the living room and plopped down beside Beca. "What'd you want for dinner? Piper was thinking Mexican."

"Mexican is good," Beca replied as Alex picked up the television remote from the coffee table.

"Did you and Chloe have a good time today?" Alex asked.

Beca smiled. "We did. She gets along great with Amy and Jesse. I really like her, Lex."

"Well, she better not hurt you," Alex said. "I'll totally ruin her life."

Beca's phone buzzed and she checked to see who it was, smiling when she saw Chloe's name.

_Hope everything is okay. I had fun today with you and your friends. _

Beca laughed at her sister's words. "I don't think that'll be necessary, but thanks."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Beca was tiredly made her way downstairs to the kitchen where Alex had already set out a bowl of cereal for her. It was Monday and she already wanted it to be Friday. It was a never-ending cycle. She would at least get to see Chloe since they didn't get to see much of each other on Sunday. Chloe had Bella stuff to do and then she spent the rest of her day with her friends.

"So, just because you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean you can cut classes to make-out," Alex said. "Got it?"

Beca rolled her eyes. "She's not my girlfriend yet and I wasn't planning on cutting my classes. Besides, I don't even know if we're being public about whatever it is we're doing."

Alex frowned. "Why wouldn't you? You're not letting this girl make you her little gay secret are you? Because that's bullshit, Becs."

"I'm not. She's not like that," Beca assured her sister. "We haven't talked about it. I'm just guessing that since we haven't put a label on anything yet that she wouldn't want to make a big deal out of it."

Alex rolled her eyes. "What's with kids your age and dating? I was never this angsty."

Beca frowned. "I'm not angsty."

Alex picked up her mug from the counter. "Whatever you say, Becs. Hurry up and eat so I can take you to school to do your angst-ing somewhere else." Alex stopped at the entryway and turned around. "Oh, and Piper was wondering if you could make some mixes for a party she's throwing in two weeks. She'll pay you."

"She doesn't have to pay me," Beca said.

"Let her pay you," Alex said. "You can take your non-girlfriend out and be all sexually awkward."

"I'm not sexually awkward." Beca turned to face her sister.

"I'm sure if she was naked in front of you, you wouldn't know what to do with yourself," Alex said, grinning as Beca glared at her.

"I hate you," Beca said, knowing there was some truth in Alex's words.

"You love me. Now hurry up and eat," Alex said.

"I'd eat faster if you'd shut up," Beca stated.

"Wait, there's one more thing," Alex said, walking back towards Beca. "Piper said I should've had a deep meaningful conversation with you about mom showing up. Does that really need to happen?"

"Yeah, no. I'm good," Beca assured Alex.

"You sure? You don't have any sad shitty feelings you want to talk about?"

Beca shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Awesome." Alex walked away and Beca finally turned around to eat her breakfast.

* * *

Beca neared her locker, smiling when she saw Chloe standing there talking to her friends. She reached her locker and did the combination lock, not interrupting the conversation Chloe was currently having with Jessica and Ashley about their dance group.

When Chloe heard Beca's locker pop open, she stopped mid-sentence and turned around happily. "Hey, you."

"Hey," Beca greeted her with a smirk as she pulled the books that she needed for English class. "How was the rest of your weekend?"

"Pretty awesome. Sorry I was so busy and couldn't text much."

Beca shook her head. "It's cool." She closed her locker and glanced at Jessica and Ashley, who were staring at them with interest. "I better get going. I have to go find Jesse and Amy."

Chloe frowned at how quickly it seemed that Beca wanted to get away from her. "Uh, okay," she said to an already retreating Beca.

"What was that?" Jessica asked. "From the way you were going on about her, we were expecting a lot of adorable interactions."

"I'm going to go catch up with her," Chloe said. "I'll see you two later." She closed her locker and went off in the direction Beca had gone. She saw the brunette not too far away and called her name.

Beca turned around and was surprised to see Chloe approaching her. "Hey, what's up?"

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked.

Beca shoved her hands into her pockets. "Yeah, why?"

"I was just checking. You seem… upset. Did I do something?"

Beca's eyes widened slightly. "What? No. Of course not. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if you wanted people to know about us so I figured I'd keep my distance so I don't do anything to make people think we're together."

Chloe tilted her head to the side in amusement. "What if I wanted people to know about us?"

Beca was surprised by the question. "Then, um, I'd do all that couple-y stuff or whatever."

"Okay, and what would that entail?"

Beca shrugged. "I guess I could hold your hand or whatever."

Chloe laughed lightly and reached for Beca's hand, pulling it out from her pocket. "I'd like that."

Beca linked their fingers together and was caught off guard when Chloe leaned in to kiss her. She heard the whispers begin but didn't have time to think about it as Chloe pulled her down the hall.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Chloe asked. "Stacie's throwing a pool party and I was hoping you'd be my date."

"Is it just going to be you and the Bellas?" Beca asked. She could handle that. If it was a bunch of randoms, she probably wouldn't feel as comfortable being there.

"Yeah, and a few other people. So are you in?" Chloe asked, hoping that Beca would say yes.

Beca didn't like parties. She liked small groups of no more than four and doing laid back things. "Sure, why not?" Beca knew she probably wouldn't have fun but she'd at least get to spend time with the redhead.

Chloe smiled and leaned over to kiss Beca on the cheek. "It'll be more fun than you're thinking. I promise."

Beca doubted that but she said nothing as they approached her friends who were standing near a row of lockers talking and laughing. "Hey, guys."

"Hey," Jesse greeted them. "Barden High's soon to be favorite couple."

"Shut up," Beca muttered. The warning bell rang and Beca looked at Chloe. "You go ahead. I'll see you in class."

"Don't be late." Chloe began to walk away but then glanced back at Beca. "Invite them to the party."

Beca was thrilled that her friends would be able to join her at this pool party. Maybe then she'd actually have fun. "Party at Stacie's Saturday night. You two want to go?"

"Can't. Sorry," Jesse said. "My parents are having family night."

"You're fucking lame," Beca whined before looking at Amy. "What about you?"

Amy held her hands out, palm up and began to weigh her options. "Drunk jocks and twig bitches," she raised her left hand up, "or my sanity," she raised her right hand up higher.

"You love a good party," Beca pointed out. "And this is your favorite kind of party! There's a pool. Amy, come on!"

"A pool party?" Amy said with sudden interest. "Why didn't you lead with that? I'm in."

"Thank god," Beca said, relieved. "I'll text you the details when I get them. I better get to class. Chloe hates when I'm late." As Beca walked away, she heard a 'whipping' sound and turned her head to glare at her friends. "Shut up," she said before rushing to class.

* * *

Chloe was making-out with Beca in her room while their textbooks rested on the end of the bed, where they had been long forgotten. Chloe let her hand slip up Beca's shirt and before she could do anything else, her room door was opened causing them to pull apart.

"Chloe did you borrow my necklace?" Evelyn entered the room.

Beca turned a deep red while Chloe seemed unfazed. She watched as the redhead got up from the bed and retrieved her mother's necklace from the jewelry box on her dresser.

"I'm going to be at a very important dinner. You won't be able to reach me and your father is working late."

"I can fend for myself," Chloe assured her as she got back onto the bed.

Evelyn looked at Beca and smiled. "Beca, right?" Beca nodded, mutely. Evelyn looked back at Chloe. "Very different from your usual girlfriends."

"Also a lot better," Chloe added, not bothering to tell her mother that they weren't actually girlfriends.

Evelyn looked back at Beca. "What is it that your parents do, hon?" She asked, remembering that she had never gotten an answer the last time she asked.

Deciding to go with the truth, Beca answered the woman's question. "I live with my older sister. She's a bartender." Beca was sure the woman wouldn't want her anywhere near Chloe now but she didn't want to lie.

"I tended bar for some time in college," Evelyn stated. "It's how I met Chloe's father, actually. Anyway, I better get going. You girls have fun."

Beca was surprised when Evelyn left the room without a warning about them being alone in Chloe's room together. "Your mother just caught us making-out and didn't comment on it."

Chloe smiled. "Yeah, she doesn't care. She's too busy worrying about making partner at her law firm."

"Does it bother you how absent your parents are from your life?" Beca asked.

"It's whatever." Chloe kissed Beca on the lips. "Hey, can we go to your place? I'd love to hear some more of your mixes and maybe even hang with your sister and her girlfriend."

"Yeah, we can go over there," Beca smiled. "Piper will be excited to have her spirit animal back with her."

Chloe stopped Beca from getting off the bed. "Hold on. We can leave in like ten minutes," she said before connecting her lips with Beca's. Beca smiled into the kiss and the two spent a few minutes making out before they left Chloe's mansion to go to Beca's house.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Chloe was standing in front of her bedroom mirror as she checked herself out in the bikini that she was planning to wear to the pool party. She turned to the side and placed her hand on her stomach just as her mother was walking by her room.

The woman stopped at the doorway and placed a hand on her hip. "What are you doing?"

Chloe looked away from the mirror to look at her mother. She couldn't admit that she was thinking about whether or not she looked good in the bikini at her current size. She had worn it last year and had been told by Alice that she wasn't fit enough to pull it off. She hadn't looked at the swimsuit since but dug it out today thinking that maybe Beca would like it. "Trying to decide if I should go with this blue bikini or my red one."

Evelyn stared at her daughter for a beat before walking into the room. "What'd you eat today?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Why do you always have to ask that?"

"I'd rather not have my daughter pass out, again, from malnutrition," Evelyn stated. "You need to take care of yourself."

"And I am. I had breakfast with dad this morning. He's a witness so why don't you go interrogate him?"

"Maybe you should just check in with Doctor-,"

"No, Mom," Chloe cut her off. "I'm fine. You can't keep doing this. It doesn't help. It irritates me."

Evelyn sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just need to be on top of these things this time around. I wasn't before and things got pretty bad. And with how busy I am, I can't afford for you to relapse."

"Right, of course." Chloe reached for her shorts and slipped them on. "Work."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just thought for a moment my health was important to you because you care about me, but really, you just don't want it affecting your job."

"Chloe-,"

"Chloe!" Charles yelled from downstairs. "Beca is here!"

"Send her up, Dad!" Chloe yelled back before returning her attention to her mother. "Don't worry. I won't get in the way of your career."

"That came out the wrong way," Evelyn explained.

"Don't worry about it," Chloe said, not wanting a discussion about this right now.

Beca reached the door way but immediately looked down at the floor when she saw that Chloe was only in shorts and her bikini. "Sorry."

Chloe chuckled and went over to kiss Beca on the cheek. "You're so adorable. It's just my bikini. You'll see me in less later."

Beca's head shot up and she looked at Mrs. Beale with wide eyes. "S-she just means that she won't have those shorts on later. It's a pool party so they're not required. That's all she meant."

Chloe grinned and reached for her shirt that was on her bed. "We better get going."

"You two have fun," Evelyn said, amused by Beca's rambling. "Will you be home tonight, Chloe?"

Chloe shook her head. "I'll probably spend the night at Stacie's." She pulled her shirt on and slipped on her sandals.

"Okay, just be home by Sunday night. I want us to have dinner together. Beca, you should join us."

"Um, I'll see if I can," Beca replied. "I'll have to ask my sister. She might have something planned."

"Great," Evelyn smiled. "You girls have fun," she said before leaving the room.

Chloe closed her room door before moving over to Beca. She kissed the brunette gently on the lips before beginning to unbutton Beca's plaid shirt.

"What are you doing?" Beca whispered in surprise.

"I want to see your bikini," Chloe replied as she finished unbuttoning Beca's shirt. She trailed her hands up Beca's sides. "Navy. I was expecting black."

Beca smirked. "I'm full of surprises. Come on, let's go get this party over with."

"What?" Chloe asked as she opened the door. "Not excited for it?"

"I just don't think I'll fit in," Beca admitted. "I'm not the popular girl at school, you know."

Chloe smiled and reached for Beca's hand. "You're awesome, Beca. Everyone will love you."

Beca hoped Chloe was right. She just wanted to fit into the redhead's world without any problems.

* * *

Beca was supposed to meet Amy outside of Stacie's place but apparently the blonde had shown up and was already the life of the party. Upon entering the house, Beca had seen Amy doing shots with the jocks and joking around with them. Beca realized that this meant her only entertainment for the night had bailed on her.

"Beca!" Amy approached the brunette and shoved a shot into her hand. "Shots!" Amy took her shot while Beca just stood there with hers. "Drink up, Becs! This party is legit."

"I can see that," Beca said with a light laugh. "You're going to be around to keep me company, right?"

"Of course," Amy assured the brunette.

"Amy!" Someone yelled from outside. "It's inflated!"

"Gotta run," Amy said before leaving to head outside.

"Traitor," Beca mumbled.

"What was that?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing," Beca replied as she turned to face Chloe. "Want to go outside?"

"Yeah, but let's talk for a moment," Chloe said.

"That doesn't sound promising," Beca said, worried that she had done something wrong.

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to say that people keeping asking what this is," she gestured between them. "And I figured we could just tell them that we're girlfriends from now on. I mean, if that's cool with you."

Beca grinned. "That's very cool with me."

"Okay, then it's official," Chloe said, happily before kissing the shorter girl. "But you know you haven't taken me out on a date yet. We should make that happen soon."

Beca had been avoiding this topic for several reasons. The main one being that she couldn't afford to take Chloe anywhere fancy and she was embarrassed by it. "Sorry, I'm slacking. We can make plans."

"Hey, lovebirds!" Stacie approached the two, handing them each a shot.

"I already have one," Beca informed her.

"Now you have two. Take them back!" Stacie counted to three and watched as the girls did their shots.

Chloe took Beca's other shot from her and downed it. "You don't have to drink too much if you don't want to." She looked back at Stacie. "Where's Bree?"

"Tanning. Come join us."

Chloe followed Stacie outside and set her shot glasses down on a nearby table. Chloe removed her shirt and tossed it onto an empty chair before guiding Beca to a lawn chair beside Aubrey. "Can you put sunscreen lotion on my back?"

"Yeah, sure," Beca said as she sat down on the chair.

"Hey, Bree," Chloe said as she picked up the blonde's lotion.

Aubrey raised her sunglasses up to her head. "Hey, you actually got Ms. Anti-Social to come?"

"Shove it, Posen," Beca said as Chloe sat down between her legs.

"You two be nice to each other for at least two hours," Chloe said as she handed Beca the lotion.

"Maybe when I get more alcohol in me," Aubrey said as she lowered her sunglasses.

"I'm getting in the water," Stacie said. "Come join me when you're done, Chlo."

Beca finished applying sunscreen to Chloe's back and shoulders. "All done, Chlo."

Chloe turned around, straddling Beca's thighs. "Not quite." Chloe took the bottle and squirted some lotion into Beca's hands. "Stomach and chest," she winked at her girlfriend.

Beca blushed and looked around. "People are watching."

Chloe smirked. "Let them watch."

Beca bit her bottom lip as she rubbed the lotion into Chloe's skin. She moved her hands up to the redhead's chest and paused. Chloe chuckled and guided Beca's hands to the top of her breasts to finish applying the lotion. Beca let out a small moan and blushed when she realized that she had made that sound. She cleared her throat and dropped her hands to her lap. "I'm done."

Chloe was about to lean in to kiss Beca when she felt cold water hit her causing her to yelp.

"You two need a room." Aubrey took a sip from her water bottle. "There's about six of them in this house. I'm sure you won't have trouble finding one."

Chloe smiled and got up from the chair. She slipped off her shorts and sandals before sauntering off towards the pool.

"So damn hot," Beca muttered to herself.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Keep it in your pants."

Beca ignored the blonde and sat back in the chair as she watched Chloe get into the water. Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad if all she had to do was sit back and watch Chloe move.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Beca downed her umpteenth shot and shook her head at the taste of it. She handed Amy the empty glass and let out a breath. "I need water." She had been at the party for a few hours now and it was starting to get dark out. She figured it was a good idea to start sobering up.

"You need more alcohol," Amy corrected before walking away to get the brunette just that.

Aubrey looked over at Beca who had barely moved from her seat since she arrived. "You know, you're not so bad."

Beca looked over at the blonde, surprised by her statement. "You must be totally out of it to be saying something nice to me."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and sipped her beer. "You're just not the juvenile delinquent that I thought you were," she explained. "Chloe could've done a lot worse as far as girlfriends go."

Beca laughed lightly. "A backhanded compliment but I'll take it."

A song began to play and Aubrey's eyes widened. "I love this song!" Beca watched the taller girl get up and unsteadily make her way over to the group of her dancing friends. Beca noticed Chloe in that group and smiled. The redhead already had a bubbly personality but drunk Chloe was even more happy and it was contagious. Beca stood from her seat but before she could head over to Chloe, she felt an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, Beca-nator!" Tom greeted her drunkenly.

"Yeah, don't call me that," Beca said, amused as she removed the boy's arm from over her shoulders.

Tom frowned. "Then what else can I call you?"

"Um, my name?" Beca offered before gesturing over to where Chloe was. "I'm just gonna-,"

"Whoa, hey," Tom cut her off. "I wanted to talk." He handed her a beer bottle.

Beca took the bottle and twisted the cap off. "What about?" She asked before sipping the drink.

"Anything. Like… the chicks at this party are so hot," Tom said as he looked over at Chloe. "Barden's finest."

Beca looked at the jock in disbelief as he blatantly checked out her girlfriend. "Dude," Beca said, drawing his attention away from Chloe. "You do remember that she's taken, right? By me."

"No, yeah. I remember. I was just admiring," he gestured up and down Chloe's form. "All of that. Have you scored with-,"

"Okay," Beca cut him off. "Don't finish that sentence and stop checking out my girlfriend."

"We can talk about these things," Tom assured her. "We're bros."

Beca shook her head. "You know, for like five seconds, I thought I was wrong for thinking you were a tool."

"Does that mean you're not going to share the details of your intimate life with me? Even just a little bit? The smallest of details is fine with me."

Beca stared blankly at the boy for a second before lightly pushing him towards the pull. It was just enough to send the inebriated jock into the pool.

"I'm taking that as a no," Tom said as he resurfaced.

Beca shook her head and headed over to Chloe who was dancing with her friends. When the redhead noticed her girlfriend approaching her, she beamed and skipped the rest of the way over to her.

"Hey, sexy!" Chloe exclaimed. "Dance with me!"

"Aubrey banned us from dancing because you kept putting your hands in inappropriate places, remember?" Beca said with amusement pouring from her voice.

Chloe grinned as she linked her hand with Beca's. "Then let's go dance somewhere a little more private."

Beca allowed Chloe to pull her inside the house and over to the empty living room. Chloe pushed Beca onto the couch and quickly straddled her.

"Are you enjoying the party?" Chloe asked as she began to unbutton Beca's plaid shirt.

"More fun than I thought I was going to have," Beca admitted. She rubbed her hands up and down Chloe's thighs. "You look great, by the way." Beca fingered the strap of Chloe's bikini. "This bikini looks amazing on you."

Chloe's eyes sparkled as she smiled brightly. "You think so? Alice told me I-,"

"Alice is stupid," Beca cut her off. "You'd look amazing in anything." She reached up and moved a strand of Chloe's wet hair out of her face.

Chloe leaned down, pressing her lips against Beca's. Her tongue snaked out to run along Beca's bottom lip and the brunette parted her lips immediately. Chloe's hand trailed up to Beca's bikini top and her fingers slipped passed the material. Beca gasped as she felt Chloe's fingers come in contact with her breast. "Is this okay?" Chloe spoke against Beca's lips. Beca nodded mutely before connecting her lips with Chloe's again.

"Chloe?! Beca?! Where are you guys?" They heard Stacie yell from somewhere else in the house.

Chloe retracted her hand and sighed as she rested her forehead against Beca's. "We're so finishing this later."

"Sorry to interrupt your sexy times," Stacie said as she entered the living room. "We're doing more shots. Get your asses up and head back outside."

Chloe reluctantly got up from Beca's lap, pulling her girlfriend up with her. Beca went to button back up her shirt but Chloe stopped her. "Leave it. It'll give me something nice to look at."

Beca smirked and followed Chloe outside. This was definitely proving to be an interesting party.

* * *

Chloe and Beca laughed as they stumbled into one of the guestrooms. Chloe locked the door before joining Beca on the bed. She moved on top of the brunette and began to kiss her thoroughly. Beca placed her hands on Chloe's waist as she moaned into the kiss. The two were both drunk beyond belief and Beca was surprised that she hadn't passed out like everyone else had.

Chloe tugged at Beca's shorts. "Take these off."

Beca reached down to undo the button but just ended up fumbling with it before Chloe giggled and pushed her hands away. She undid it herself and pulled the shorts down Beca's legs.

"You are so incredibly hot," Chloe said as she ran her hands up and down Beca's legs.

"I feel hot," Beca replied as she placed a hand to her face. "I think it's all the shots I did."

Chloe laughed. "I meant figuratively, you dork." She moved her hands up to Beca's thighs and bit her lower lip as she looked down at her. "Maybe we should sleep in separate rooms."

Beca sat up and began to place kisses along Chloe's neck. "I'm not tired."

"We should stop," Chloe said, reluctantly as she tilted her head to the side to allow Beca better access to her neck. "You're drunk."

"So are you." Beca nipped gently at Chloe's neck. "And I want this if you do."

Chloe groaned. "I do, but-," She became distracted when Beca undid the strings on her bikini and tossed the material aside. Her eyes trailed over the brunette's chest before she surged forward, kissing Beca hard.

Beca smiled into the kiss as Chloe lowered her onto her back. She reached up to Chloe's back and began to pull at the strings to undo it. She frowned when she couldn't get the knot out.

Chloe pulled away and laughed at Beca's pout. "I had to make sure it wouldn't come undone," she explained with a wink. Once it was off, she moved back down on top of Beca. She placed kisses along the other girl's chest before capturing a nipple in her mouth causing Beca's hips to buck.

"God," Beca breathed out as she threaded her fingers through Chloe's hair as the redhead had her way with her.

* * *

The following morning, Beca woke up and groaned from how awful she felt. She rolled over and came into contact with another body. Flashes of the night before hit her and she smiled. She and Chloe had been a drunken, fumbling mess and it had been fun. Her body ached in all the right places and she was sure she had bite marks on her shoulder.

Chloe's eyes fluttered open and it took her a moment but when the details of last night hit her, her eyes widened. "We-,"

"We did," Beca confirmed. "Totally not how I expected it to happen but, I must say, it was pretty amazing."

Chloe didn't look comforted by Beca's words. "You don't regret it? That was your first time. God, I totally ruined your first time."

"Hey," Beca reached out to cup Chloe's chin. "You did not ruin anything. I thought it was perfect." Beca grinned. "You're vicious, though." She touched the bite mark on her shoulder that she could feel throbbing.

Chloe made an apologetic face as she brought her own hand up to touch the bruise. "Geez, who'd you roll around with last night," she joked.

"A cannibal apparently," Beca quipped.

Chloe smirked. "Well I do recall devouring you." She winked at Beca before tugging the covers further down her body. Beca blushed and went to cover herself back up but Chloe stopped her. "It's okay. I've seen it all." Her eyes trailed over Beca's body and she took in the scratches and other numerous bruises that her sucking and biting had caused. She ran her fingers over the marks and leaned in to kiss Beca. "They don't hurt too much do they?"

Beca shook her head. "They're fine."

"And you're really okay about everything?" Chloe asked, cautiously. "You don't regret taking that next step?"

"Not at all," Beca replied. "Last night was amazing."

"It most definitely was," Chloe agreed. "My head is killing me, though."

"That makes two of us," Beca said.

Chloe scooted closer to Beca and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Let's sleep a bit more and then I'll take you home so you can plan our date for tonight."

Worry flashed through Beca's features at the mention of a date. She still had no idea where to take Chloe or what to do. She would definitely have to enlist the help of Alex and Piper.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Chloe pulled up in front of Beca's house and looked over at her girlfriend. "So I'll see you later?"

"Yep, big date and all. I have to be in attendance for that, right?" Beca joked, trying to hide how nervous the idea made her. She had been all about wanting to woo Chloe until she realized that she didn't really have the means to do so.

Chloe unbuckled her seatbelt to lean over and kiss Beca. "And you still don't regret last night?"

Beca smiled and reached for Chloe's hand. "I really don't." Beca frowned. "Wait, why? Do you?"

Chloe's shoulders slumped. "Kind of. I wanted you to have this really romantic first time and drunk Chloe blew that for you."

Beca ran her thumb over Chloe's knuckles. "You didn't, though. I wanted it to happen and it was with you so that only makes it perfect."

Chloe smiled. "Sweet talker. You better get inside. I can see Piper watching us from the window."

Beca laughed as she removed her seatbelt. "I'll text you later." Beca got out of the car and as she walked towards her front door, it opened and Piper wiggled her eyebrows at her.

"You were gone all night," Piper stated with a grin.

"Yeah, everyone was too drunk to drive," Beca explained.

"Uh huh," Piper replied, knowing that wasn't why Beca hadn't come home. She gestured towards the brunette's chest. "Nice hickey."

Beca's head snapped down to her chest and she quickly pulled her tank top up to cover the mark. "Shut up," she smirked as she entered the house.

"Alex, Beca's home!" Piper called to her girlfriend.

Alex exited the kitchen with her morning coffee and looked at her sister sternly. "You're grounded."

Beca's eyes widened. "For what?!"

"You didn't tell me you were staying anywhere last night. You could've been dead or something. You didn't even bother to text me. You know I hate when you do that shit."

"I'm sorry. I drank a little too much and it just slipped my mind. Are you really going to ground me? You knew I was with Chloe."

"Checking in takes like five seconds. You have to do my laundry for a week, you brat," Alex said as she walked into the living room.

Beca rolled her eyes but smiled as she followed her sister. "You're just saying that because you hate doing it, but okay, I guess I can handle that."

"So how was this party?" Alex asked as she sat down.

"Not as bad as I was expecting it to be." Beca sat down across from Alex.

"She got laid," Piper replied as she sat down beside Beca. "Doesn't she look all glow-y?"

Alex quirked a brow. "Seriously? Chloe managed to get that far without you freaking out?"

"I had liquid confidence," Beca replied. "… a lot of it. We were both pretty drunk."

Piper furrowed her brows. "Your first time was a drunken one?"

Beca nodded. "And it was great."

Alex laughed. "My first time involved inebriation too. Look at you following in my footsteps."

Piper shook her head. "I think first times should be romantic and memorable. Do you even remember anything, Becs?"

"I do," Beca replied with a smile. "It was a lot of laughing and fumbling. It was fun."

Alex looked over at Piper. "Not everyone's first time is a bed of roses, Pipes."

"They were lilacs," Piper corrected. "And it was sweet."

"Didn't you say your first time was awkward and you were basically waiting for it to be over?" Alex asked.

"Yes, but the romantic attempt was there-,"

"And it still fucking sucked. It's not about the setting. It's about the person and the bond you have and all that cheesy shit."

"Speaking of cheesy shit," Beca cut in. "I need to plan a date with Chloe tonight and I would really like it not to be a disaster."

Piper brightened at the thought of getting to plan a date. "Oh, you should take her for Italian!"

"That sounds expensive," Beca replied, miserably.

"I can give you the money," Piper said without hesitation.

"What? No." Alex brought her glasses down from the top of her head so that they were resting comfortably on the bridge of her nose. "That's false advertising. She's going to expect you to take her somewhere fancy every fucking time. You have to be real on your first date so she knows what you're all about. It gives her the chance to dump you if she thinks you're lame."

Piper picked up a throw pillow from the couch and flung it at Alex. "Don't say shit like that to her. She's already nervous about this date."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Don't be fake is all I'm saying. Take her to a fucking movie or something, Becs. You can at least make-out in the back row if it sucks."

"I hate movies," Beca said. "I want us to both enjoy ourselves."

"Okay, I've got it!" Piper exclaimed, happily. "How about a picnic on the beach?"

"Can you not pull your ideas from shitty rom-coms?" Alex asked. "Why can't Chloe plan this date? She's the rich one."

"You're an ass." Piper moved from beside Beca so she could sit on Alex's lap. "You know Chloe best, Beca. You can plan an amazing date. Just think about what she likes and do some brainstorming."

Alex wrapped her arms around Piper's waist. "Yeah, you know she likes sex so make sure the date ends with that… or begins. Hell, it can just be that."

Piper sighed in mock irritation. "Why am I with you?"

"Because I'm hot and can make you-,"

"Not in front of your sister!" Piper cut her off, blushing.

"Yes, please refrain from scarring me for life." Beca got up from the couch. "I'm going to go brainstorm." Beca made her way upstairs to her room and plopped down on her bed. This dating thing was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

"I'm surprised you two even made it to a room," Aubrey said as she painted her toenails.

Stacie laughed. "Yeah, you were all over each other. At one point I thought you were going to just jump her right outside."

Chloe blushed lightly. "I'm a horny drunk and Beca's really damn sexy. I totally need to plan something better, though."

Aubrey quirked a brow. "Did you not enjoy yourselves?"

"We did." Chloe smiled as she thought about the night before. "It was great. Honestly, I think it was the best I've ever had. I was comfortable with her. It was fun. I didn't feel pressured or anything."

"But?" Stacie added as she looked up from painting her fingernails.

"No buts," Chloe assured them. "I just want her second time to be more memorable. My parents won't be home until Monday so I'll have the place to myself. We're going on a date tonight so after it's over, we can go back there and-,"

"I don't need a visual," Aubrey cut in. "Where are you going on your date?"

"No idea," Chloe replied. "I'm leaving all that up to Beca."

"I really like you and Beca together, Chlo," Stacie stated. "You two are super adorable."

Chloe smiled happily at hearing this. "Thanks, Stace! She makes me happy. I'm glad you get along with her." She then looked to Aubrey. "And I'm glad you're trying."

Aubrey shrugged. "She's alright once you get past the attitude and piercings."

"You know what you need," Stacie said as she set her nail polish aside. "A new outfit for this date."

"You're right," Chloe agreed. "And lingerie."

"Do you ever not think about sex?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah, when I'm sleeping," Chloe replied with a grin. "Wait, no. I had that one dream a few days ago."

Aubrey shook her head in amusement at her best friend's antics. "Once our nails are dry, we can go."

Chloe picked her phone up from beside her and sent a quick text to Beca.

_Try to extend your curfew for tonight. ;) See you in a few hours. _


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Thanks again for letting me take your car," Beca said to Piper as she headed for the front door.

"Not a problem. Enjoy yourself." Piper took a picture of Beca with her phone causing the brunette to roll her eyes. "Don't be like that," Piper said. "This is your first date. You'll want memories of this moment. Say cheese!"

"You're like an annoying mother," Alex took the phone from Piper. "So what'd you decide on, Becs?"

"I don't want to tell anyone," Beca said. "You'll judge it and I'll freak out. And it's too late to come up with anything else."

Alex placed a hand on her chest in mock offense. "When the hell do I ever judge you?"

"Go enjoy your date," Piper said with a grin. "You don't want to be late."

"I'll be home at one," Beca said before quickly trying to leave.

"Whoa," Alex stopped her. "Your curfew is at ten."

"Midnight," Beca said, hopefully.

"Eleven," Alex shot back.

"Eleven-thirty," Beca said, pleadingly.

"Fine, but if you're even a second late, you're doing my laundry for two weeks. And don't make any plans for Monday. We need to have a serious talk about college."

Beca rolled her eyes but before she could respond with any sarcasm, Piper opened the front door and playfully shoved her out. "Go have fun." The blonde turned around to face her girlfriend. "Let the girl enjoy her night." She wrapped her arms around Alex's neck. "And we should take this time to enjoy ours."

Alex kissed Piper and squeezed her ass. "Get your sexy ass upstairs."

"Mm, hold on," Piper pulled away from Alex and headed into the living room to grab both their cell phones. "Beca might text us."

Alex took her phone and turned the volume all the way up. "You're right. She might need advice. The girl is totally hopeless when it comes to other girls."

* * *

Beca pulled up in front of Chloe's house and before she could even get out of the car fully, Chloe had exited the house and was making her way towards her. "Hey, you."

Chloe kissed Beca and smiled at the single rose that she was holding. "Thank you, babe." She took the rose and twirled it between her fingers.

"Thank your neighbor a few blocks down," Beca joked. "She has a really nice rose garden."

Chloe laughed and shook her head. "You're ridiculous. Come on, let's get out of here. Oh, and before I forget, are you doing anything on Monday? My parents want to have a sit down with you."

Beca frowned. "What'd they want to talk about?"

"They just want to get to know you better," Chloe explained. "They're taking this sudden interest in my life. It's weird."

"That's good, though," Beca said. "Maybe you'll become closer."

"Doubt it. They're just being nosey," Chloe explained.

Beca was relieved that Alex had told her to not make plans for tomorrow. "I can't. Alex wants to have this stupid college talk."

"Do you not want to go?" Chloe asked, curiously.

"No, I want to focus on music. Possibly move to L.A. and see what happens," Beca explained.

"Stacie, Aubrey and I applied to schools in California," Chloe said, excitedly. "We could be roommates."

"Something tells me Aubrey would cringe at that thought," Beca said as she went to open the passenger side door for Chloe.

"That's more than likely," Chloe agreed. She gestured to the silver car. "Piper's letting you drive her car?"

"I promised to not let anything happen to it."

"Guess that rules out rough sex on the hood," Chloe joked.

Beca raised the bottom of her shirt to reveal the bruises on her stomach. "Yeah, I'm still healing so I think I'm okay with that."

Chloe bit her bottom lip as thoughts of how she gave Beca those flashed in her mind. "You enjoyed every second of it."

"I totally did," Beca agreed before getting into the car. "My curfew is at eleven-thirty, by the way. Why'd you want me to extend it?"

"Figured we could hangout back here after our date," Chloe explained. "My parents aren't home.

Beca smirked as she started the car. "And what will we be doing?"

Chloe shrugged. "A little bit of this, a little bit of that."

Beca chuckled and shook her head. "Well, I can't wait." She pulled out of the driveway and headed towards their first location, hoping Chloe would enjoy herself tonight.

* * *

Beca pulled up in front of the café that Piper usually liked to go to. "So, um, I figured we could eat here. It has that weird tofu stuff you like and they at least serve food I would eat." Beca began to turn her thumb ring as her nerves took over. "And um, after I was thinking we could go to the beach. We haven't gone to your spot in a while so I thought it'd be nice."

Chloe smiled and undid her seatbelt. "That sounds like a great idea, Becs!" Time alone at the beach would mean she would get to talk to Beca and learn even more about her. She had a lot of questions about her past and figured tonight would be a good time to ask them.

Beca was thrown by Chloe's excitement. "Really?"

Chloe laughed. "Yeah, I'm not really into extravagant dates. It's just more of the person trying to impress me more than it is them being themselves, you know?"

Beca grinned. "Well you definitely don't have to worry about that with me. I can't even afford to think about expensive things." Chloe frowned and Beca worried that she had said something wrong. "That was just a joke. I can totally try to up my game our next date."

Chloe shook her head and reached out for Beca's hand. "You know you don't have to worry about that stuff with me, right? I'm not interested in how much money you do or don't have. I enjoy being with you and that's all that matters to me." Chloe noticed Beca visibly relax at her words. She had a feeling that the brunette had been stressing out over whether she would enjoy herself tonight or not. "You don't have to work to impress me. You already do that just by being yourself."

Beca smiled at the redhead and looked down at their linked fingers. "How did I end up with you?"

Chloe kissed Beca and winked as she pulled away from her. "I've always thought you were hot," she admitted before getting out of the car.

Beca's eyes widened at this new information and she quickly got out of the car as well. "Seriously?"

"Yep," Chloe said as she made her way towards the café.

Beca rushed to get ahead of her in order to open the door. "Like even before we started talking?"

"Like even before then," Chloe mocked her girlfriend. "You just have that dark and mysterious thing going for you. I've always thought it was totally sexy." She pecked a stunned Beca on the lips and entered the café.

* * *

Beca laughed as Chloe told her the story about how Aubrey had puked all over the audience the day of one of their dance competitions.

"Don't tell her I told you that story," Chloe warned. "She'd kill me."

"Secret's safe with me," Beca promised. The two were lying on a blanket at the beach near Chloe's usual spot.

Chloe turned her head to look at her girlfriend. "So can I ask a personal question?"

"Go for it," Beca said as she looked up at the night sky.

"Why'd you miss a lot of school your freshman year?" Chloe asked. "It wasn't because you were skipping was it?"

"No, my sister was going through some stuff," Beca explained. "Um… a heroin addiction. It was rough and they almost put me into the foster care system but my social worker talked them into letting me stay with Amy and her family for a while instead while Alex got clean."

"How'd she and Piper meet?" Chloe asked, knowing Beca wouldn't want to linger on the topic of her sister's addiction.

Beca chuckled. "They met at a bar and fooled around for a while before things became serious."

"I like them together," Chloe said. "They're hilarious."

"They really are," Beca agreed. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah, one. That woman outside your house the other day," Chloe began. "Was that your mother?"

Beca bit at the inside of her cheek before answering. "Yeah, that was her. She was spewing shit about getting clean but needing a place to stay. There's no way in hell Alex would ever let her live with us."

"Would you want her to?"

"Definitely not. She's not someone I'd want in my life even if she does get hers together."

"I don't blame you for feeling that way." Chloe scooted closer to Beca and rested her head on the brunette's chest. "Sorry you've had it so rough."

Beca began to run her fingers through Chloe's hair. "I've managed. So can I ask you a personal question now?"

"It's only fair."

"Why does your mom bug you so much about what you eat?"

"I suffered from an eating disorder. It started with Alice always picking on how I looked and then transformed into me just wanting some control over my life. At school, Alice told me what to do and at home, my parents were too busy for me and if they did pay attention to me, it was to tell me that they were having guests over and I needed to look my best. Once I started, people were always saying how good I looked and it made me feel proud. I ended up passing out one day and being rushed to the hospital because I hit my head." Chloe reached up to a faint scar on her forehead. "Got this because of it. That happened over the summer and my parents were so busy with all types of things that it just frustrated them more than anything. My mom keeps tabs on what I eat so it won't happen again. I started a foundation because of it. Love is Louder. That's the organization you think I started because it would look good on my college application."

Beca felt guilt hit her. "Sorry about that. I was a real ass."

"Apology accepted." Chloe raised her head to kiss Beca before getting comfortable once again. The two listened to the ocean waves as they laid in silence enjoying being in each other's arms.

* * *

Beca winced as she tried to remove Chloe's bra but ended up snapping the material against Chloe's back. "Sorry!"

Chloe chuckled and sat up, straddling Beca. She removed the bra herself and tossed it aside. "It's fine."

"I think I was better at this when I was drunk," Beca stated, sheepishly.

Chloe leaned down and kissed Beca slowly. "Don't think so much," she said against her lips. "You want to do this, right?"

Beca nodded as her gaze went to Chloe's bare chest. "I definitely want this." She sat up and began placing kisses along Chloe's chest before taking a nipple into her mouth. She circled it with her tongue before moving to give Chloe's other breast the same attention.

Chloe let out a sigh and bit her bottom lip as Beca sent waves of pleasure trickling through her body. Chloe reluctantly pushed Beca onto her back and moved off of the bed.

Beca sat up on her elbows and looked at Chloe's form in the dark room. "What are you doing?"

"We need music," Chloe explained as she picked her iPod up from her desk. The iPod screen lit up the room a bit, allowing Beca a better view of her girlfriend. Chloe chose a song and set it into the speaker dock before moving back onto the bed.

Beca laughed as Avant's _Making Good Love_ began to play. "Are you serious right now?"

Chloe crawled back onto the bed until she was hovering over Beca. "I'm trying to go for romantic this time around. It adds to the ambience."

"You're ridiculous," Beca said, good-naturedly before kissing Chloe. She moved her hands down to Chloe's jeans and undid the button before pushing them down her hips. Chloe got up to take her jeans off and then helped Beca remove her own. She got back onto the bed and used her knees to push Beca's legs apart before she pushed her thigh against Beca's center.

Beca gasped at the action and Chloe took the opportunity to slip her tongue into the brunette's mouth. Chloe nipped at Beca's bottom lip as she broke the kiss. She began placing kisses along Beca's neck, nipping at her skin every now and then. She kissed her way down to Beca's stomach until she reached the hem of her underwear. She positioned herself between Beca's legs, nipping and sucking at her inner thighs, driving the girl crazy.

"Chloe," Beca whined. "Stop teasing."

Chloe tugged at Beca's underwear and Beca raised her hips so that Chloe could easily pull it off. Chloe let out a hum of approval as she ran her hands up and down Beca's thighs.

"You're wasting precious time here," Beca stated, remembering that she had a curfew. "You need- fuck!"

Chloe ran her tongue up and down Beca's slit a few times before sucking gently on her clit. She smirked as Beca's hand shot down to her head and tugged at her hair a bit. She stopped her actions, earning a disapproving groan from her girlfriend. "Oh, relax," she grinned. "You're so impatient."

"I hate you," Beca breathed out as the throbbing between her legs intensified.

Chloe moved up Beca's body and kissed her before she moved her hand down between their bodies. She watched Beca's face as she slowly entered her with two fingers and smiled as the brunette squirmed beneath her. She pumped her fingers in and out of Beca and went in for another kiss.

Beca moaned into the kiss as Chloe's thumb pushed down onto her clit. "Shit, Chloe," she breathed out.

Chloe moved her kisses to Beca's shoulder and took in every sound that her girlfriend was making. She added a third finger and began to thrust faster, gasping when Beca's nails dug into her back.

Beca's breath hitched in her throat and her body arched as she came hard. Chloe continued to thrust into her for a few more seconds before slowly pulling out. She kissed Beca gently and cuddled into her as she waited for her to come down from her high. "You okay?"

Beca let out a chuckle. "I'm fantastic." She moved so that she was on top of Chloe and kissed her hard on the lips. As the kiss became heated, Beca pulled away and got up from the bed.

Chloe frowned. "Why'd you stop?"

"Changing the song," Beca informed her as she looked through Chloe's playlist. She settled on a song and got back onto the bed. "Ready for your world to be rocked?"

"Oh, is someone else joining us?" Chloe joked.

Beca's mouth fell open in mock offense. She slid her hands Chloe's thigh to her stomach before she began tickling her.

"I was kidding!" Chloe said through her laughter.

"You better have been," Beca smiled before kissing the redhead. They had about thirty more minutes before she had to leave and she planned on making the most of them.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Three days later…

Chloe closed her locker and turned to face Beca. "Babe, you should think about sitting with me and my friends at lunch today. Jesse and Amy are more than welcome to join us."

Beca shook her head as she closed her own locker. "I'm sure Aubrey would cringe at the idea. I wanted to talk to Amy and Jesse about something private anyway."

Chloe frowned in concern. "Is everything okay?"

Beca sighed. "It's the whole college thing. Alex really wants me to go and she won't drop it. She made me spend all of Monday night filling out college applications. She can't make me go if I ultimately decide that I don't want to. I don't know why she's bothering."

"She wants you to have a great education, Beca. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But it's not for everyone, Chloe. It's not for me. I just want to do music."

"And I get that, but you can also do your music after college or even try to balance both."

"So you're siding with her?" Beca asked with a sigh.

"No, I'm simply saying going to a university would be good for you. And you can apply for a scholarship. I can help you find the good ones. There's a lot dealing with music. You really shouldn't dismiss the idea. I'll support you either way. Whatever makes you happy in the end is all that matters, right?"

"If anyone should be going to college, it's Alex. She loves learning. Always has. She used to sit in on lectures for kicks."

"Do you know what she'd be interested in studying?" Chloe asked, curiously.

"She's big on literature but I don't know if she'd want to be a professor. I've heard her mention wanting to own a bar. Everyone loves her at the bar she works at now. They go to her with their problems and she talks to them. I could see her being a psychology major. I don't know, though."

"Well, you should bring it up to her," Chloe insisted. "It's never too late for anyone to go to college."

"Maybe I will," Beca said.

"And hey, for dinner on Saturday, can you maybe not mention how you don't want to go to college?" Chloe asked. "My parents won't like that."

Beca felt a pang in her chest at the request. "But it's not like I'm just going to sit around and not do anything. I want to be a music producer."

"They'll think it's silly," Chloe tried to explain. "I just want dinner to go smoothly."

"Oh, okay. So you're embarrassed by me? Maybe you should take another girl to this dinner," Beca said, irritated.

"What? No. I'm not embarrassed by you at all," Chloe said, quickly. "I just know how my parents are and want to avoid their judgments."

"That's great, Chloe," Beca said, sarcastically. "Maybe I just won't go to the stupid dinner so you don't have to worry about your parents thinking you're dating a loser."

"Beca, that's not what-,"

"I've got to go," Beca cut her off before walking away.

Chloe wanted to go after her but she didn't want to start a scene at school. She hit her head with the palm of her hand and let out a breath. "Stupid."

"Who's stupid?" Stacie approached Chloe.

"Me," Chloe said, miserably. "I just pissed Beca off."

"What's the problem?"

Chloe began to walk with Stacie to the cafeteria. "She's having dinner with me and my parents tomorrow and I asked her to not tell them about her not wanting to go to college or the whole music producer thing. You know how my parents are. They won't approve of our relationship if she tells them that."

"I mean, I get it," Stacie said. "But I also understand why Beca would be upset. You two come from different spectrums of life. She has a passion for music and she's proud of it. She doesn't have much but she has that so it's unfair for you to tell her to keep it to herself."

Chloe's shoulders slumped. "I'm such an idiot."

Stacie smiled. "We're all allowed our slip-ups. You'll see her in a few seconds. You can sneak out to the parking lot and make up."

Chloe laughed lightly. "You're such a perv." They entered the cafeteria together and Chloe looked around for the brunette. She spotted Amy and Jesse but not her girlfriend. "Hey, I'll join you at the table in a bit." She walked away from Stacie and went over to Amy and Jesse. "Hey, guys. Have you seen Beca?"

"Yeah, she said she couldn't eat with us today," Amy replied. "Something about forgetting to do her homework."

Chloe forced a smile. "Okay, thanks." Chloe knew Beca was just avoiding her and hoped that she'd catch up with the girl before school was over.

* * *

Alex looked over at Beca who hadn't said much since she picked her up from school. "What's your problem?"

Beca undid her seatbelt and opened the car door. "Nothing."

Alex reached over and closed the passenger door. "Really because you haven't said a fucking word since you've been in this car. Who do I need to hurt?"

Beca shook her head. "No one. I'm just…" Beca ran a hand through her hair. "I'm thinking too much about a lot of things."

"Like what?" Alex asked.

"Chloe, college, music, life. I don't know. I want to be a music producer, Alex. Do you think I'd make it if I tried?"

"Of course I fucking think you would," Alex said as if it was a silly question. "Piper's going to play your mixes at her party. That's how great they are. You'll be a kick ass music producer. I know I'm pushing you to go to school. I just want you to have something to fall back on."

Beca shook her head. "I don't want something to fall back on. That just gives me an excuse to give up if things get too hard."

Alex sighed. "You really don't want to go?"

"I really don't," Beca said. "I want to graduate high school and move to LA. You should go to college, Alex. That was your dream once."

"I don't have time," Alex said.

"I'll be graduating in a few months. You won't have to take care of me anymore."

"Oh, so you have money to move to LA and get an apartment there without my help?" Alex asked with a quirked brow.

"I'll sell some of my stuff," Beca assured her. "I want it enough. I'll figure it out."

Alex stared at her sister for a few seconds. "Yeah, you will, won't you? It's gonna suck when you're gone."

"We'll still talk every day," Beca assured her. "And once I have enough money, I'll visit."

"Well, you'll be flying to New York," Alex said. "When you leave, Piper wants to move and she asked me to go with her."

Beca smirked. "I don't think New York can handle you."

Alex reached out and playfully punched her sister in the arm. "I'm not that bad. So that'd be cool with you?"

"Of course," Beca assured her. "I'll be doing my own thing. There's no reason you shouldn't be. You've kind of put your life on hold because of me so it'd be good for you to get out there."

"Oh, shut up," Alex said, good-naturedly. "You're one of the best parts of my life. Now enough of this mushy shit. Let's get inside."

Beca laughed at how quickly Alex pulled away from their sentimental conversation. She got out of the car and followed her sister towards their home.

Alex reached for her key and went to push it into the door knob but realized the door was unlocked. Frowning, she looked at her sister. "I locked this before I left."

Beca stepped back and noticed that the window on the side had been busted in. "Alex someone might still be in there."

"Go wait in the car."

"I'm not going anywhere," Beca whispered back.

"I don't have time for this. Go wait in the car, Beca."

Beca headed for the car and Alex watched her get into it before pushing the door open. She looked around and everything seemed to be okay. She headed into the living room and saw that the television set was gone. Rolling her eyes, she finished looking around downstairs before making her way upstairs cautiously. She looked into her room and saw that her dresser drawers had been opened and her clothes had been strewn across the floor. She rushed into her room and raised the mattress, relieved to see a manila envelope still there. She snatched it up and looked inside to make sure the money she had been saving was still there. "Thank god," she muttered before heading to Beca's room.

She stood at the doorway and glanced around before taking a step inside. She immediately took notice of the missing laptop and knew Beca would be devastated by that. She went over to the desk and took a deep breath before pulling the top drawer open. "Damn it."

"Alex," Beca entered the room.

Alex turned to face her sister. "I'm sorry, Becs. They're gone."

Beca walked further into the room and looked down into the drawer. Her thumb drives were gone. Every song she had ever made was gone. The pop anthology that she was almost done creating had been taken from her. Beca shook her head in anger. "Why would they take those?! That was all my work!"

Alex wanted to say it was okay and that they'd find the thumb drives, but it wasn't okay and she knew Beca would probably never have her mixes back. She did have an idea of who could've done this and if she ever saw their mother again, it wouldn't end well.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

Alex was sitting in the living room with Piper who was currently insisting that she and Beca spend the night at her apartment that she shared with her best friend. She was worried that their broken window would allow for more trouble.

"We'll be fine here," Alex assured her girlfriend as she leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "Thanks, though."

"You don't have a fucking window, Lex," Piper pointed out. "Anyone can slip through there and turn this place into a slasher film."

"We put cardboard over it for now," Alex said. "It'll be fine."

"Well I know a guy. I already called him. He said he can fix it tomorrow." Piper leaned cuddled further into Alex. "Do you really think your mother did this?"

"Yeah, that bitch did this," Alex replied. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. She pops back up and this shit happens. The TV barely works anyway so jokes on her."

"What else did she take besides the TV and Beca's stuff?" Piper asked.

"The watch you gave me last year for my birthday. I seriously want to find her, Pipes. I'll strangle her. I swear."

"She's not worth it," Piper said. "And I don't want you going to find her. That's just asking for trouble."

"But Beca needs her mixes back. She's devastated. I've never seen her like this before."

"You know I have my laptop that I never use," Piper began.

"What are you talking about? You live on that thing."

"Not doing anything I can't do from my phone," Piper stated. "I don't really need it. Beca would make more use of it."

Alex wanted to say no. She didn't want the handout, but she knew Beca would at least have a means of making her mixes again, which would make her feel a little better so she swallowed her pride. "Thanks, Piper. I'll pay you back when I can."

Piper leaned over to kiss Alex on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. I'll do whatever I can to help. You know Beca's family to me."

Alex placed an arm over Piper's shoulders and pulled her in closer just as the doorbell rang. She got up from the couch and made her way to the front door, wondering if the police had miraculously tracked down their stuff. It wasn't the police, but she was just as glad to see Chloe. Maybe the redhead could make Beca feel better.

Chloe gestured to the window that was being covered by cardboard. She had noticed it from outside. "What happened there?"

"Someone decided to go shopping when I left to pick Beca up from school this afternoon," Alex replied, acerbically. "Beca didn't tell you?"

"She's kind of pissed at me right now," Chloe explained, dejectedly. "She hasn't been responding to any of my messages."

"She's not in a good place," Alex explained. "Someone, who I'm guessing is our mother, took her laptop and all of her thumb drives."

Chloe's heart dropped. She knew Beca's music was on all of those drives. "Can I see her?"

"Go ahead." Alex stepped aside to let Chloe in and hoped Beca wouldn't push the redhead away. The brunette had a habit of holding people at arm's length when she wasn't in the best of moods.

* * *

Chloe slowly opened Beca's room door and peeked inside. Beca was lying on her bed with her back to the door. "Beca," she said softly as she entered the room.

"I don't want to talk about our fight right now, Chloe," she said with a quiver in her voice.

Chloe's heart broke even more at the sound of Beca's tearful voice. "Alex told me what happened." She moved further into the room. "I'm sorry about your mixes." When her girlfriend didn't respond, Chloe kicked off her shoes and got onto the bed. She knew the mixes couldn't simply be replaced. Listening to Beca's music was like looking through a photo album. The changes and improvements were obvious throughout the years and the emotions the brunette was feeling at the time could be felt flowing through the music. Music was Beca's life and the memories had been taken from her. "I can help you create more mixes. I have song ideas. Actually, there's this new song by-,"

"I don't want to talk about music," Beca cut her off. "I'm just going to go to bed. You should get going."

"Look, I know you're pissed at me and I'm sorry," Chloe said. "What I said came out wrong."

"Not now, Chloe," Beca said, firmly.

Chloe sighed in defeat. If Beca didn't want her there, then she would respect that. "Okay, I'll see you at school tomorrow." She leaned down and kissed Beca on the temple before getting up and heading downstairs to bid Piper and Alex a goodnight.

"Gone already?" Piper asked when she saw the redhead.

"Yeah, Beca's not in the mood for conversation... or my presence."

"Well you don't have to leave," Piper assured her.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Hang out with us. I can use some teen drama in my life to take my mind off of all the ways I can make my mother's death look like an accident."

Chloe smiled at the invitation and entered the living room to sit down across from the two. "Do you really think she's the one who did it? Can the police find her?"

"It had to be her. And they wouldn't know where to start. She's probably in a crack-house somewhere."

"So why's Beca pissed at you?" Piper wondered aloud.

Alex chuckled at the blonde's nosy nature. "Yeah, what'd you do?"

Chloe sighed. "I said something and she took it the wrong way. She's supposed to be having dinner with my parents and I just want them to like her so I asked her not to mention her aspirations as far as music goes and well, that conversation didn't end so great."

Piper made a "yikes" face. "Yeah, you messed up. Nothing you can't make right, though. Beca's just really sensitive about her music."

"Yeah, our mom used to tell her that her dreams were stupid and that she'd never make it," Alex explained. She started to believe it but I made her pursue it and now she makes awesome mixes. Just give her time to cool down. She's more upset with the situation than at you." Alex stood up from the couch. "Now I don't know about you two, but I need a drink."

"I could use one," Piper said.

"I'm good," Chloe said as Alex headed off to the kitchen. Her thoughts went back to Beca, hoping that the brunette would talk to her soon.

* * *

Hours later, Alex glanced at her phone for the time and saw that it had gotten late. She, Piper and Chloe had spent a good amount of time talking about random things like past events and what they wanted from the future. It was nice getting to know Chloe more and Alex and Piper both thought that the girl had a good head on her shoulders. She had even talked to them about her eating disorder that had been caused from dancing and her ex-Bella's captain. "It's getting late, Red."

Chloe had enjoyed her time with the two and probably could've sat here speaking to them for another few hours. It was late though and she didn't want to keep them up any longer. "Yeah, I guess I should head home." Chloe got up from the couch.

"It's eleven. You can just stay here." Alex knew Chloe was usually out late and pretty much did whatever she wanted but she didn't like the thought of letting her out late by herself. "You can sleep in Beca's room. She's knocked out by now so you don't have to worry about waking her."

Chloe looked hesitant about invading Beca's space when the brunette was angry with her but decided that there was no point in arguing with Alex. She got up from the couch and gestured towards the stairs. "I guess I'll head up there. Thanks for letting me hangout. Have a goodnight, you two." Chloe headed upstairs, leaving Alex and Piper on the couch.

* * *

Chloe cautiously entered Beca's room and closed the door gently before removing her jeans and getting onto the bed. She laid down slowly and looked over at the brunette.

Beca, who had only just begun falling asleep felt the bed shift and opened her eyes. She couldn't see much in the dark room but she could smell her girlfriend's perfume. "Chloe?"

"Hey, sorry," Chloe began. "I-," She was surprised when she felt Beca's arm around her waist. The brunette pulled her in closer, cuddling into her before drifting off to sleep without a word. Chloe smiled and kissed her on the forehead before going to sleep as well.

* * *

The next morning Beca woke up to an empty bed and wondered if she had dreamt Chloe being there last night. That was probably it. She doubted the redhead would want to be near her after how short she had been with her the previous day. Not being in the mood for school, Beca decided she'd bail on it today, hoping that Alex would write her a note. She rolled over onto her side to check the time and was surprised to see that it was ten. Her alarm hadn't gone off and Alex hadn't come barging in to wake her.

Getting out of bed, Beca made her way downstairs where she found Alex and Piper making-out in the kitchen. "Hands," Beca said, jokingly.

Alex pulled her hands out from Piper's shirt and grinned at her sister. "About time you fucking woke up. What do you want to do today?"

Beca quirked a brow. "You're really letting me skip school?"

"Figured you'd need a day away from it." Alex reached out and ruffled Beca's hair.

Beca playfully swatted the brunette's hand away. "I'll just hang out here. I'm not in the mood to do anything."

"There's something for you in the living room," Piper said before sipping her coffee.

Beca looked at her suspiciously before going into the living room. Her gaze immediately fell on the laptop sitting on the coffee table with a bow on it and an envelope nestled underneath it. "That's an Apple laptop."

Piper laughed lightly at the brunette's wide eyed reaction. "Yep."

Beca was stunned into silence for a few seconds before she finally spoke. "I can't take this. It's way better than the one I even had. This probably cost you a thousand dollars."

Alex placed an arm over Beca's shoulders. "It was dropped off this morning by Chloe."

Beca was even more surprised to hear that. She definitely wouldn't have expected this from her girlfriend, especially with how she had been yesterday.

"I figure you'll need to download new software for it so let me know when you're ready and I'll give you my credit card to purchase them," Piper added.

Beca shook her head. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I'm not keeping it." Beca pulled the envelope from the laptop and sat down on the couch to read it.

"I told Chloe you'd say that," Alex said. "She wasn't having any of it so good luck telling her you don't want it. We're heading out for a bit. You sure you want to stay here?"

"Yeah," Beca said absently as she opened the note that Chloe had left her.

"We won't be long," Piper said before leaving with Alex.

Beca began to read the note, smiling as she did so.

_ Hey, Becs. I know you're not going to want to take it, but trust me, it was collecting dust anyway. It was my dad's but he used it once and didn't like it so he hasn't touched it since. Rich people problems, right? So um, yeah… it's all yours. I know I'm not your favorite person right now but I hope you'll talk to me soon. Sorry again about your music. –Chloe. xoxo_

Beca headed upstairs with the laptop and set it down before picking up her phone. She began to text Chloe a message but then decided that it wasn't how she wanted to do things.

* * *

Aubrey and Stacie looked at the redhead as if she had lost her mind. They were sitting in the cafeteria listening to her outrageous plan.

"Hold on, you're saying that you want to go to crack-houses to find Beca's mother?" Aubrey asked. "Do you even know what she looks like or where to find places like that?"

"I've seen her once and I can figure it out," Chloe confirmed. "So are you two in?"

"You know what? Why not?" Stacie said. "I'll go with you."

Aubrey shook her head. "I am not about to go sleuthing from crack-house to crack-house like it's a normal day. We could get hurt. Or even worse, someone might see me there. My parents would ground me for life. You two shouldn't be thinking about going either."

Chloe knew Aubrey was right. "I just want to get her music back. She's really upset about it, Bree."

"I'm sure she is," Aubrey said, "But you need to find another way to help her that doesn't involve possibly dying."

Chloe's shoulders slumped. "You're right. I just hate seeing her so down." She was disappointed that Beca hadn't shown up to school and wondered if the brunette even liked her gift. There had been no texts messages or anything from Beca and she thought that maybe Beca was still irritated with her. She wasn't even sure if Beca was going to bother coming to the dinner that was planned with her parents tonight. _Guess I'll have to wait and hope for the best. _

* * *

Beca had finished taking a shower and was now in her room getting dressed when she heard a noise from downstairs. She figured Alex and Piper had returned and quickly got dressed before heading downstairs to see what they were up to.

"Alex?" Beca called as she made her way downstairs. When she didn't get a response, she went to the living room, freezing when she noticed that the cardboard had been forced off. She heard a creak in the floorboard behind her and quickly turned around coming face to face with her mother. She noticed the woman had a backpack on and was holding one of the paintings that Piper had put in the house to "make it look more homey."

"Beca," the woman began.

Beca felt herself becoming hot with anger at the sight of the woman. "Are you fucking kidding me?! You didn't steal enough yesterday?!"

A man stepped out from somewhere else in the house and looked from Beca to his companion. "Lorraine is she going to be trouble?"

"Beca," Lorraine began as if she was talking to a small child. "I need this stuff, okay?" She set the painting down, leaning it against the wall.

Beca scoffed. "For what? To go buy more drugs? You're pathetic! Where are my thumb drives? They're not of any use to you and they mean the world to me."

"Beca," Lorraine said again. "I'm trying to get setup somewhere so I can get my life together. I need money to do that. Don't you want to see me get my life together?"

Beca laughed dryly. "Your definition of getting your life together involves shacking up with a drug dealer who supplies you so that you're out of it for a better part of the day. You're a fucking joke!"

"I am your mother!" Lorraine snapped. "You can't talk to me like that!"

"Look at you," Beca continued, taking in her mother's thin and ragged appearance. Her eyes were bloodshot and she kept scratching the back of her neck. "You're high right now."

"Lorraine," the man said. "We need to go."

"You're not taking that stuff!" Beca lunged forward, grabbing for the backpack that her mother was wearing. The next thing she felt was a blow to the side of her head before she hit the floor.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Joe, you didn't have to hit her!" Lorraine said as she bent down to help her daughter up.

Beca swatted her mother's hands away and stood up on her own as she touched the side of her head. "I want everything that you took back," she said, ignoring the throbbing in her head.

"Let's just go," Joe said as he headed for the front door.

Lorraine looked at Beca as she backed up. "I'm just trying to get clean, sweetheart. I need money to do that."

"I've heard you say you're going to get clean so many times," Beca said, vehemently. "I never believed you then and I'm definitely not stupid enough to believe you now. The only thing you're going to do when you have money is get high. You're such a waste."

Lorraine took a step towards Beca but the brunette didn't back down. "I raised you. I sacrificed for-,"

"You did shit for me!" Beca snapped. "Alex raised me! She never got to enjoy being a child because you fucking suck as a mother and she wanted to make sure I was taken care of!"

Lorraine's hand shot up, backhanding Beca across the face. "And what about what I sacrificed for you useless children?! No one talks about that!"

Beca wiped the blood from the corner of her lip with the back of her hand. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. I just want my music back."

Lorraine rolled her eyes. "Do you really think you can do anything with music, Beca? You'll never get anywhere. People like us never make it big. We're low on the totem pole and we're lucky if anyone even glances our way."

"Something tells me I have bigger aspirations than you," Beca said, sarcastically.

"I had dreams too!" Lorraine snapped.

"Yeah, finding your next fix," Beca retorted. "Do you have my mixes or not?"

"Nobody wanted that crap so I tossed it," Lorraine replied as she backed away.

Beca felt her anger wash over her like a heatwave and she clenched her fists, moving towards her mother as the woman moved towards the front door. "You're not leaving with anything so unless you want a very pissed off me to bash your face in, I'd put the bag down and leave.

A "who the fuck are you" could be heard being yelled from outside and Beca was relieved that her sister had returned.

Lorraine cursed under her breath and removed the backpack. She didn't have time to fight with Beca. She dropped the bag on the floor and took off towards the door. Once outside, she ran towards Joe's car and hopped inside.

Alex quickly moved towards the car to stop her mother but the car backed out too quickly and sped off. "Are you fucking kidding me with this bullshit!" Alex ran a hand through her hair. "I'm going to destroy that woman." Alex rushed towards the house. "Beca!"

"I'm here," Beca said, miserably as she knelt on the floor looking through the backpack of stuff her mother had tried to take. She pulled her headphones out of the bag and moved to sit on the couch.

Piper noticed her painting leaning against the wall and her mouth fell open. "She was going to steal this?" She gestured to it. "We have to do something about that woman. She can't just keep popping up here whenever she fucking likes. Are you okay, Becs?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Beca said as she looked her headphones over for any damage.

Alex frowned as she noticed something on Beca's temple. She brushed the brunette's hair back and noticed the bruise. "Did she put her fucking hands on you?!"

"That would be from her boyfriend or whoever the hell he was." Beca turned her head so that she was looking directly at her sister. She tapped the corner of her mouth. "This lovely bruise is from mother dearest."

Alex cupped Beca's chin with her thumb and pointer finger as she looked her over. "Shit, Beca. I'm sorry I wasn't here."

Beca shook her head. "It's not your fault. At least she didn't get away with anything." Beca got up from the couch. "I'm just going to head upstairs."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alex asked.

Beca nodded. "I'm just going to go lay down."

Alex watched her sister walk away before looking to Piper. "I am going to kill that woman," she said, angrily. "I need to get this handled. Can you stay here?"

"You're not going after them." Piper took Alex's hands into her own. "You'll get yourself hurt. She's not worth it."

"She and that man fucking hit my sister! I can't let them get away with that!"

Piper placed her hands on either side of Alex's arms, rubbing up and down them. "I'm not saying not to do anything. I just don't think going from crack-house to crack-house is a good idea. I'm thinking we should ask that girl a few doors down for help."

Alex furrowed her brows. "Which one?"

Piper thought for a few seconds. "I think her name's Taystee. She might know something about your mom and that guy she was with."

Alex laughed. "So you want to ask her if she knows anything about a random druggie and drug dealer? You're so racist."

Piper's jaw dropped open and she placed a hand on her chest. "I'm not racist. My nanny was black."

Alex shook her head. "We're not asking Taystee for help. I know someone. A very scary someone. He probably knows who they are and he can talk to them for me."

Piper narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend. "Does this very scary someone happen to be your ex-drug dealer because that's not happening, Alex."

"I'm not going to buy drugs. I just need to talk to him. He'll fix this situation." Alex pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Okay, fine." Piper gestured towards the stairs. "I'm going to go check on Beca." She headed upstairs and pushed Beca's room door open. "Hey, Becs. How are you feeling?"

Beca removed her headphones from her head and paused the song she had been listening to on her iPod. "What was that?"

"Long day, huh?" Piper asked as she sat down on the bed and lightly touched Beca's bruised temple. "How's your head?"

Beca shrugged. "I've had worse."

"You can tell me if you're not okay."

"Really, I'm fine. Just worried that I totally messed up with Chloe. I was a jerk to her yesterday and now I'm going to have to cancel on dinner with her parents because I look like this," she gestured to her face. "She's going to think I'm just bailing."

"You know if you just tell her what's wrong and why you have to cancel, she'll understand, right?" Piper asked. "Communication, Beca. It'll save you from unnecessary fights eighty percent of the time."

"I don't want to throw my problems at her," Beca explained as she fiddled with the cord of her headphones.

"You're in a relationship together," Piper stated as she picked Beca's phone up and placed it in her hand. "That means you help each other with your problems. Talk to her, okay?"

Beca nodded. "I will."

Piper got up from the bed and smiled down at the brunette. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

Beca smirked. "I'm alright, I guess." She watched Piper leave and looked down at her phone. She couldn't avoid Chloe forever.

* * *

Chloe picked up her phone as soon as it vibrated. Aubrey rolled her eyes and reached over to take the phone from her friend. "You've been waiting for her to text you all day," Aubrey stated. "Make her wait. You haven't been eating. If she's stressing you out so much that you don't eat, then maybe this isn't the healthiest relationship for you, Chlo."

Chloe grabbed her phone back from Aubrey. "I thought you were coming around to us being together? And I'm not hungry. I guess a loss of appetite happens when you're about to be dumped."

Stacie shook her head. "Beca's totally into you. You're not going to get dumped."

"I agree," Aubrey said. "She's an idiot if she breaks up with you. And I'm totally fine with you dating her now as long as she's treating you right. If she isn't, then it's not the relationship for you."

"She treats me better than anyone I've dated ever has," Chloe said as she opened the text message from Beca.

_Sorry for being an ass. I'm really upset about a lot of things and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have done that and it won't happen again. I really appreciate the laptop. I can't accept it, but thank you. Can we talk later? Also, I can't make it to dinner with your parents. Sorry. _

Chloe frowned. She couldn't tell if this text message was a good or bad thing. Did Beca want to make up or did she want to end things? She was just about to type out a response when her phone buzzed again.

_P.S. Were you in my room last night or did I totally dream that?_

Chloe chuckled as she responded.

_I was in your room last night. You're a cuddler ;p And we can definitely talk later. I'll stop by your place after dance practice. Is everything okay?"_

Chloe decided to hold off on trying to convince Beca to take the laptop. She would work on that when they were face-to-face.

_We'll talk when you get here. _

Chloe sighed and set her phone down causing Aubrey and Stacie to look at her with worry. "She wants to talk," Chloe explained. "That's a bad sign, right?"

"She could just want to apologize in person," Stacie said, trying to cheer her friend up.

Aubrey pushed Chloe's tray closer to her. "Eat and stop worrying. You'll talk after school."

* * *

Chloe was walking towards her car with Aubrey and Stacie when she saw Beca standing by it. She smiled and waved before glancing at her friends. "She's here. That's a good sign, right?"

"It is," Stacie said, happily. "We'll leave you two to it. Come on, Bree."

"Dance practice, Chloe," Aubrey said to her as she followed Stacie.

"I'll be there," Chloe promised before heading over to Beca. "Hey," she said, stopping in front of her girlfriend. She frowned when she saw the cut and bruise on Beca's face. "What happened?" She brushed her thumb over Beca's bottom lip.

Beca smiled at the gentle touch. "My mother broke into our place again. It's nothing. I don't want to show up to dinner with your parents like this, though." She took Chloe's hand into her own and squeezed it gently. "Sorry to just show up like this. I got tired of being at home so Alex dropped me off a few minutes ago."

Chloe wanted to ask more questions about Beca's mother but knew now wasn't the right time. "Do you want to come with me to dance practice? Actually, I can skip it and we can go to the beach."

"As awesome as that sounds, I'll never hear the end of it from Aubrey if you bail because of me. I'll just go with you if you're sure that's okay."

"It's more than okay." Chloe leaned in, placing a kiss on Beca's lips. She was about to speak when she noticed the bruise peeking out from under Beca's hair. She brushed the strands back and clenched her jaw.

"It's fine," Beca said, softly. "It doesn't even hurt anymore." Beca linked their fingers together and brought Chloe's hand up to her lips, placing a kiss on it. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I was in a bad place."

"I need you to talk to me when things get bad," Chloe said. "You pushing me away hurt. I want to be there for you whenever you need me."

"And I want you to be there," Beca assured her. "I've never been in a relationship so I'm obviously going to suck at it sometimes but it'd be great if you stuck around for the ups and downs."

"I don't plan on going anywhere, Becs," Chloe said, happily. She kissed Beca but stopped when she heard Tom yell to them, "Lady lovin! My favorite thing. You two have an awesome day full of awesome s-,"

"Shut up, Tom!" Chloe and Beca yelled at once.

Chloe laughed. "He knows how to kill a moment. Ready to go?"

Beca smiled. "Yeah, let's go. I've probably already made you a minute late and Aubrey's going to have a heart attack."

Chloe kissed Beca on the cheek and got into the car. She was relieved that things between them were going to be okay but they still had a lot to talk about. She would save that conversation for tonight, though, when they were back at the brunette's place.


End file.
